Readers of Oprah Winfrey’s magazine O noticed something startling in the July print issue: a fat-shaming piece of advice in the rag’s fashion advice column.
“Q: Can I wear a crop top?” a reader asked.
“If (and only if!) you have a flat stomach, feel free to try one,” reads the reply.
Plus-size fashion blogger Sarah Conley, alerted to the line by a friend, decided to fight back by using the hashtag #rockthecrop on Twitter and invited other ladies to join in by posting proud, crop-rocking selfies.
Conley tweeted her own pics directly to O magazine creative director Adam Glassman.
.@therealadamsays I hope you don't mind, but I took matters into my own hands >> #RockTheCrop http://t.co/acsEfIUFXw pic.twitter.com/aYz4ecLnaK
— Sarah Conley (@imsarahconley) July 8, 2015
On Twitter and Instagram, plus-size fashionistas quickly flooded the feeds with selfies of them wearing shirts that hovered above their waistlines.
@styleit the minute I read it, I knew I had to #RockTheCrop. @O_Magazine we make our own rules! pic.twitter.com/tiVWXprH2N
— Zadry Ferrer-Geddes (@ZadryG) July 8, 2015
One Instagram user, Leigh Rich, also posted these selfies but tagged her photos with #SlutsWithGuts.
“I started using #slutswithguts because I love a sweet rhyme, and also because I am a slut with a gut,” Rich plainly told the Daily Dot in a Facebook chat on Thursday. “It’s also because clothes that aren’t viewed as slutty on a thin person, like a bikini, are met with a lot of really sexual comments from my followers and friends on social media.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/45HLKRkBXI/
“Most women don’t have flat stomachs,” Rich said, “Why shouldn’t we get to wear something that makes us feel sexy or comfortable or trendy?”
Photo via leighgion_of_doom/Instagram | Remix by Jason Reed