Teen Defends Plus Size Girlfriend Prom Fat Shamed

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Just like many other high school couples, Tre Booker and his girlfriend Madison snapped a few photos before they headed to prom Saturday night. When Madison put a few of those photos up on Twitter, however, she was fat-shamed by a commenter who noted the body size difference between her and Booker.

"Wow he loves you even tho you're fat," a Twitter users who goes by @BeSafeThough commented on her (ridiculously adorable) photos.

Madison retweeted the comment, replying with a simple message. "Don't see how people can be rude to people they don't even know," she wrote.

Don't see how people can be rude to people they don't even know pic.twitter.com/wx7cu7OGgp
— madison (@madisonfaithhh_) April 30, 2017

Plenty of people commented on her tweet with messages of support, telling Madison how beautiful she is.

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@madisonfaithhh_ You guys are so beautiful and don't let the sad people of society ever take away those beautiful smiles. Hope you guys enjoyed your night. ❤
— L.O.S.T (@leah_jaelyn) April 30, 2017

@madisonfaithhh_ @PussssyCroook As if weight is a requirement for love . Pink warned us about these stupid girls pic.twitter.com/GwKGLJVAii
— Lisci ?? (@PrincessJuicee) April 30, 2017

@madisonfaithhh_ Girl they hate us cause they ain't us??‍♀️ us plus size girls out here winning these fine chocolate men??? pic.twitter.com/xk3DFfXGw0
— Victoria Black (@Victoria_Gracen) April 30, 2017

But there's one message Twitter is really here for: the sweet message of love and support from her boyfriend.

Booker responded to Madison's tweet just minutes after she posted it, saying, "Your not fat baby God made you just for me. Your perfect."

Your not fat baby ?God made you just for me . Your perfect ? https://t.co/945h5obl2L
— Tre Booker (@BookerTb0303) April 30, 2017

His response blew up. It has more than 30,000 retweets as of writing — way more than Madison's original tweet. People seem to love the way Booker stood up for "his girl."

But what Booker said still has its problems. Instead of embracing Madison for the beautiful plus-size girl she is, his words attempt to erase part of her identity.

Still, I can't blame him for thinking that "you're not fat" was a good response, and something that would ease Madison's hurt over being fat-shamed.

I am a plus-size woman, and I've reclaimed the word "fat" for myself as an identity. Being fat is part of who I am and it shapes how I interact with other people, but there was a time when even I was quick to tell other women that they weren't fat, they were beautiful.

It took a fat-positive manatee meme to show me just how flawed those words were. "You're not fat, you're beautiful," the manatee meme says. "Actually, I'm both."

When we tell someone that she isn't fat, and then claim that she's "beautiful" or "perfect" instead, we're saying that fat people can't be beautiful — that it's either one or the other.

That is obviously not true (just look at how beautiful Madison looks in her prom dress.)

Booker's response may have been less-than-perfect, but his heart was in the right place and he and Madison clearly have a strong relationship. We're glad to know that they'll keep snapping back at body-shamers and being a ridiculously adorable couple.