Women come in all shapes and sizes and one beautifully outspoken girl won't waste a minute on anyone who thinks otherwise.
When 20-year-old Bekkah came across a tweeted gif of a man scooping a woman up into his arms alongside text romanticising her small size, she decided to respond by challenging the stereotype.
"When she's small enough for you to do this to her," @GirlThatsSlim posted beneath the gif of a couple doing that romantic lift move we're all more than familiar with now thanks to movies like Dirty Dancing and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
when she's small enough for you to do this to her >>>>> pic.twitter.com/QXIksOW80i
— slim hokage (@GirlThatsSlim) March 29, 2017
Though he later followed up that tweet with a second saying, "but at the same time, shit I want a girl who can do that to me," Bekkah felt his statement could use a counterpoint on behalf of all the tall girls in the world.
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"She doesn't need to be small, he just needs to be strong enough," she responded. The internet wholly approves. At press time, her response racked up more than 72,000 likes and more than 38,000 retweets.
she really doesn't need to be small, he just needs to be strong enough. https://t.co/RFNiSPlW0H
— B (@bekkahldn) March 29, 2017
"I know a girl doesn't need to be small to be lifted by a man," Bekkah told BuzzFeed News. "I'm 5 foot 9!" Thus, she explained to the site, she tweeted her response in the hopes of prompting @GirlThatsSlim and his followers to "look at the original tweet from a different perspective." And it worked, with many Twitter users jumping to applaud her statement.
@bekkahldn THANK YOUUUU!!! Tired of tall/girls getting treated like men. We are still delicate and precious ?
— MRS SKENG ? (@Siimzo) March 30, 2017
@bekkahldn @JamieMisleh Girl preach ???
— Abbie Scholz (@scholza16) March 31, 2017
@bekkahldn Das it! pic.twitter.com/RWsQ2UsCyd
— #SaveHitTheFloor (@ItsASheThIngTV) March 31, 2017
@bekkahldn Say it again for the people in the back ?
— Lauren London (@_IdealBeauty) March 30, 2017
Of course, some disagree with her, largely citing awkwardness, but most of their arguments seemed to lean on the optics of the situation. Frankly, who cares how it looks?
@bekkahldn it ain't gone look right if she 6'0 too lmao
— $uzy6$peed ? (@thebjsimmons) March 29, 2017
@bekkahldn @thebjsimmons Shit gonna look like this if she 6'0 ? pic.twitter.com/Uq7lLuBrd2
— 22 SAVAGE? (@fonsexi) March 30, 2017
.@bekkahldn pic.twitter.com/GoycE33Y7g
— Myles (@MylesLive_) March 30, 2017
Bekkah stands by her statement.
The only backlash I'm receiving on this tweet is from guys who can obvs only lift small tings. ?
— B (@bekkahldn) March 29, 2017
And don't worry: @GirlThatsSlim maintains a good sense of humour about it all. Meanwhile, he told BuzzFeed that the reaction seemed a bit of a double standard, saying "Why does a man have to meet a woman's standards by being 'strong enough' but a woman can't be 'small enough'? Double standards." His only real complaint remains that Bekkah got more retweets than he did. That sounds about right.
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