If I found out someone was a member of a two time gold-medal-winning Olympic gymnastics team, the last thing I'd do is underestimate them. However, that happened to U.S. Olympic gymnastics team member Aly Raisman when a TSA agent body-shamed her. On Wednesday afternoon, the 22-year-old athlete took to Twitter to recount a particularly annoying incident that occurred at the airport while she was going through security, and to lament the fact that this kind of criticism of people's bodies is still somehow the norm (or at least accepted) in 2017.
According to the tweets, Raisman was in line when a female agent called out to her.
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"Gymnast?" she said. "I recognized you by your biceps."
Then, for some unknown reason, a male TSA agent chimed in with "I don't see any muscles" and continued to look her up and down, as if to judge if she really looked like a gymnast.
"How rude & uncomfortable," she wrote. "I work very hard to be healthy & fit. The fact that a man thinks he [can] judge my arms pisses me off I am so sick of this judgmental generation."
Then, she spelled out the plain and simple truth: If you're a man who can't possibly believe that a woman has muscles, or refuses to acknowledge them, you're sexist.
"Get over yourself," Raisman added. "Are u kidding me? It's 2017. When will this change?"
Lady at TSA: "Gymnast? I recognized u by ur biceps"
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) May 24, 2017
Man at TSA: "I don't see any muscles" & continues 2 stare at me
How rude & uncomfortable
I work very hard to be healthy & fit. The fact that a man thinks he judge my arms pisses me off I am so sick of this judgmental generation.
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) May 24, 2017
If u are a man who can't compliment a girls ?? you are sexist. Get over yourself. Are u kidding me? It's 2017. When will this change?
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) May 24, 2017
He was very rude. Staring at me shaking his head like it couldn't be me because I didn't look "strong enough" to him? Not cool.
— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) May 24, 2017
"He was very rude," she concluded. "Staring at me shaking his head like it couldn't be me because I didn't look 'strong enough' to him? Not cool."
What's even more annoying is that Raisman has also had to deal with criticism for people saying she's "too strong."
"Shoutout to all the boys from 5th-9th grade who made fun of me for being 'too strong,'" she wrote on Instagram late last year. "Thanks for forcing me to learn to love myself and my body. My muscular arms that were considered weird and gross when I was younger have made me one of the best gymnasts on the planet. Don't ever let anyone tell you how you should or shouldn't look. There is no such thing as a perfect body type."
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And no matter what kind of body you have, you should be able to go through TSA without someone making you feel bad about it.
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