woman with unbuttoned shirt revealing cleavage
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
March 26, 2024 ·  4 min read

Internet Backs Woman Who Was Shamed For Her ‘Distracting’ Breasts

The Internet can be a strong forum for empowerment. Recently, a woman who claimed to be body-shamed by another individual found much support online. The woman, Adrienne Airhart, had posted a tweet where she narrated the entire incident. She had apparently been celebrating her birthday at a restaurant when someone in her vicinity decided to body-shame her. The woman told her that her chest was ‘quite distracting,’ after which she moved tables. The podcaster from Los Angeles then posted this on her Twitter, which then received close to 34,000 likes.

Airhart tweeted, “Tonight at my birthday dinner I took off my shawl and the lady at the next table said, ‘Well those are distracting’ and moved tables. Still got it!” She further clarified that the other woman seemed quite prejudiced against big breasts. In another tweet, the podcaster also uploaded a video of her blowing out the birthday candle. Interestingly, the prejudiced woman’s date was also seen congratulating Airhart on her birthday. “This was me last night. I’m not even that hot, the lady was just a hater. (Though her date did talk to me when she went to the bathroom…you can hear him.)”

Read: Teens Walk Out To Protest School’s Sexist Dress Code: ‘Am I A Distraction?’

LA Podcaster Gets Body shamed On Her Birthday 

Such a viral Tweet naturally prompted other people on the Internet to speak up about their own experiences. Several women even offered up their own experiences where they were body-shamed. One user on Twitter wrote, “I’ll never forget when I was on work experience at 15 years old and the lady I was ‘working’ for wrote in my evaluation that I dressed inappropriately. I didn’t, I was wearing exactly what they had told me to wear. I simply had breasts”. Another user wrote, “I had a red fitted tank top on under a red jacket (not zipped up, but it was uniform appropriate) when I worked at a major retail store at 18/19 years. I was called into HR and told a woman complained about my distasteful cleavage and they forced me to wear and buy an XXL branded polo.”

Several other users went on the Internet and wrote, “In college, I was in a bar going to the bathroom and this guy said with a very serious face: ‘You NEED to watch where you’re going with those things.’ Saw him in the cafeteria a couple of weeks later. No risk of him recognizing me because he never looked at my face”.

Similarly, another woman spoke about her love for her body. “Man, I am in the process of scheduling a double mastectomy, and I’ve realized how I’ve taken these beauties for granted all these years. Very sad to see them go. I’m glad you’re celebrating your boobs- I’m celebrating mine while I still can!”

But Even The Internet Has Another Opinion

Now, while the Internet did support the podcaster, there were some who definitely had something negative to say. One user wrote, “You were basically wearing a bra in public (I have big natural breasts but even I don’t dress like a h*e no matter the event)”.

This incident from Airhart seems even more poignant after a former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo faced similar opinions in January. She was taking a flight to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico when the staff of American Airlines asked her to cover up.

According to Culpo’s sister Aurora, Olivia was wearing something complete appropriate- a long black cardigan, a crop top, and a pair of shorts. However, the airport authority would have none of it. They asked Aurora to “tell her that she needs to put a blouse on otherwise she can’t get on the plane.”

A very controversial and potentially harmful topic, to say the least.

Keep Reading: Burger King Employee Speaks Out After Woman Says Uniform Is A ‘Distraction’ To Her Husband