Loving a Curvy Woman Doesn't Make You Special

The viral story of the day is about a man named Robbie Tripp who seems to think he's special because he loves his plus size wife. Good for him. 

Via Instagram, he often posts photos of his hot wife, body positive blogger "SassyRedLipstick", and writes long posts about how much he loves her body, her curves, her thickness.
From what I've seen, most of his posts about her are quite objectifying. 

I think Claire Cohen of The Telegraph said it best, "Women don't exist purely for the pleasure of men (I know, shocking isn't it?). To have their bodies appraised by men and talked about on the internet by men - even if that man is married to them." She goes on, "Mansplaining on Instagram does not make you a male feminist: 'A real woman is not a porn star or a bikini mannequin or a movie character. She's real.' Thanks for that one Robbie."
This type of behavior reminds me of when Project Runway's Tim Gunn made it his mission to address issues that affect the plus size community. 

Another major issue with Robbie's Instagram posts are his inclusion of the offensive term "real women" - a commonly used describer by those who body shame while attempting to seem body positive. 
Use of "real women" argues that there are women who are not real - this type of shaming is most often seen against skinny women and transwomen, but is not tolerated by the body positive community. ​ As a plus size advocate, The Fat Girl Show does not, and will not, use the term to justify an offensive ideal and put down those that society sees as "other". 

- Yael Tygiel
Twitter @yaeltygiel
Instagram ​@TheFatGirlShow