When Tanya Gold criticised Nike for promoting unhealthy body images by using ‘fattequins’ — oversized mannequins — she received an extra serving of inbox hate for being ‘fatphobic’, and a side order of online death threats with extra malice. And all for speaking the truth about encouraging women to maintain a dangerous weight and buy into unhealthy beauty standards.
‘Go fuck yourself, Tanya Gold,’ tweeted powerlifter and Mixed Martial Arts fighter Tony Posnanski.
Gold received massive blowback from progressive outlets, celebrity activists, and a critical mass of Twitter civilians. Jameela Jamil, Amy Schumer, Iskra Lawrence, Refinery29, People, HuffPost and Glamour all denounced Gold and the Telegraph for her honest concern that Nike was promoting an unhealthy beauty standard. They accused her of fat-shaming, even when sharing her experience of fighting her own weight war.
‘What Tanya didn’t account for are the numerous women out in the world who look like the mannequins in question and who do, in fact, run in their shiny Nike gear,’ fashion writer Mekita Rivas wrote at Refinery29.
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