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.”
“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
