U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher once again trounced a troll who said she looked “pregnant” in a dress because her stomach isn’t perfectly flat. Maher had the perfect comeback for the sad soul who quickly deleted his comment, but she recounted the story with a screenshot on TikTok.
Maher is notorious for her clapbacks at body-shaming comments. These dudes should really stop setting themselves up.
Ilona Maher shames a body shamer
On Sunday, the two-time Olympic Games athlete continued her body-positive activism with a video exposing a commenter who said she appeared pregnant in a form-fitting dress. Judging by the cry-laughing emoji, this was meant to be an insult.
Maher put on the same dress for the viral video and included a screenshot of the comment, which the man deleted after she hit back at him.
“I wanted to do it again for you all,” she said. “So to him, I say, that’s just a normal woman’s body. You probably haven’t seen a woman naked in a long time, if ever, and I hope you never get the privilege to again, because that’s just how we are, okay? That’s just what we’re working with.”
“Me, professional athlete,” she said as she turned to give a side view to the camera. “I always have this. It’s just part of me.”
@ilonamaher It’s too important a message not to share again.
♬ original sound – Ilona Maher
As registered nurse Ashley Wood explained in 2019, Maher is correct. The strong majority of women can’t achieve a perfectly flat stomach without expensive surgical interventions or the kind of nutritionists and trainers only the wealthy can buy.
Anyone with a uterus tends to have an extra layer of fat around the abdomen to protect these reproductive organs.
“In addition to having room for digestive organs, like your stomach, liver, and intestines, it has to have space for your reproductive organs and needs extra padding to protect all of these vital organs,” Wood told USA Today.
Registered dietician Ariel Johnston agreed, noting that her eating disorder patients see a healthy layer of fat restored to their stomachs first.
“This is amazing because it is the body’s way of telling us that it needs the extra fat layer there to protect itself,” Johnston explained.
“These men are not lonely enough”
Ilona Maher, while not currently playing rugby, has continued to promote body positivity online. She’s spoken out about myths around the Body Mass Index (BMI), including to a similar troll in 2024.
“I do have a BMI of 30,” she said. “I am considered ‘overweight.’ But alas, I’m going to the Olympics, and you’re not.”
Women loved her for it then, and they still do this week.
“Never change, Ilona,” wrote @aisleassistant in the comments. “You are such a queen.”
“No notes,” said @chantelle_lunt. “The fact that you’re a professional athlete schooling him, too.”
Others had their own jabs to throw at the latest troll.
“Where do they think we keep our vital organs, in our purse?” asked @lis_scaife.
“These men are not lonely enough!!” noted @genpat10lars.
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