Earlier this week, we brought you a Facebook status that was so outrageously offensive and mean-spirited, one would have thought that it was a page of out a teenage bully’s script in a movie.
Only, it was written by a local fashionista, Zaihani Mohd Zain, who claimed that anyone over 60kg shouldn’t bother going to any runway shows.
Apparently, it’s because the thighs of the over-60kg spectators spill over the sides of the seats and it’s – you know – really uncomfortable for Zaihani.
The elderly critic is now backtracking, claiming she was taken out of context, despite having written the statement herself.
What she ACTUALLY meant to say was that she was very displeased with the gentleman who was seated next to her, as he was “manspreading” (sitting wide-legged) throughout the event. Only, she didn’t know what to call his legs brushing up against hers.
No, sitting wide-legged didn’t come to mind. Nor did legs akimbo, or even the concise “men shouldn’t sit with their legs spread.”
What did come out was to say that anyone over 60kg shouldn’t bother coming. She now says that while this was “wrongly described” by her, it was the wider public that misconstrued a statement that had an actual number attached to it. Riiiight.
She added that it was impossible for her to body shame anyone weighing over 60kg: a lot of her friends come from that category, too.
Shout-out to everyone ever who’s denied racism by citing their “black friend” – your logic is alive, well and clearly appropriated.
A lesson in apologizing: “Sorry, I was wrong” is all that anyone is ever looking for. No one wants to be told that they’re only angry because they don’t know how to read your mind. It’s not really an apology then, is it?
Zaihani’s off the-cuff-remarks, immortalized on her Facebook status, and shared by thousands, resulted in a maelstrom of criticism across Malaysia, even going as far as hitting headlines in the UK press.
Social media users responded by expressing an incredible amount of support, and body positivity, to counter her negative remarks. Eat it, baby.
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