On the internet, women are routinely subject to body-shaming, and even celebrities can't seem to escape this sexist culture of objectification. For example, this week WWE star Paige (also known as Saraya Bevis) was forced to respond to cruel trolls on her Instagram account with an empowering selfie and personal rebuttal.
Paige - who suffered from a career-ending injury back in December 2017, which effectively ended her pro wrestling career - posted an image of herself reclining in bed, wearing Calvin Klein underwear, and looking fabulous as she did so.
Taking to Instagram, she captioned the selfie: "Because of the business I’m in we have an enormous spotlight on us. Which along with it comes wonderfully incredible things, but also some bad. One thing is weight. For the past 8 years I’ve struggled with how I’ve wanted my body ... You should NEVER go out of your way to make someone feel bad about themselves. Even if they are in the 'spotlight'"
She continued: "I’ve hit my lowest weight and hit my biggest weight in just the space of 2 years. But I stopped caring what people said a while ago. Helps when you surround yourself with positive people and positive influencers."
"I know you hear it from me about my bf but he’s a real driving force behind my healthier and happier lifestyle. Along with the best friends and family I could ever imagine. Long story short. F*ck what people think and you’ll be a lot happier."
Sadly, this isn't the first time that a female celebrity has been forced to respond to bullies. Just take the case of Carrie Underwood back in October of 2018, when she was trolled by a vocal minority of internet users after she posted an image of her scars. It's clear that we, as a society, need to do more to prevent the victimisation of women on the internet.
