Old Navy Customer Rachel Taylor Posts Selfie In Response To ‘Fat-Shaming’ Remarks [Video]
Old Navy customer Rachel Taylor took a selfie in an American flag-themed tank top. However, it’s not so much the image that has caused Taylor to go viral as the story attached to it. Rachel was shopping in an Old Navy store in Louisiana when she overheard some rather hurtful remarks.
“Today I was shopping in Old Navy, standing in between a teenage girl and her mom. The girl picked up a plus-size tank top, showed it to her mom and said, ‘Look! Me and So-and-so can fit in this tank top!” Her mom laughed and said, “Yeah, you could! That thing is huge!'”
Buzzfeed said that Rachel, who is plus-sized herself, was devastated by the comments and laughter.
“I couldn’t help it; I started crying. I guess the girl and her mom walked away. I have no idea. My husband walked me out of store to the car. I sat in the car crying for a long time but eventually went back inside to finish my shopping.”
That could have been the end of the story, but the woman decided to try on the Old Navy tank top that the other women were laughing at. “I ended up buying that tank top,” said Rachel. “It turns out, I look fierce in it.” Taylor went a step further and shared the image of herself in the Old Navy tank top on her Facebook page and Old Navy’s Facebook page.
As of Wednesday, the image has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and received over 10,000 likes.
Rachel Taylor has something else to share, aside from the picture and her experience: A message for shoppers. “Be kind. Think about others before you speak.” For those who may have been affected by fat-shaming, Rachel Taylor says, “If someone hurts you, you have to move on.”
Rachel Taylor, for rocking an @OldNavy top to make a fierce statement (v. @BuzzFeed) http://t.co/cIG2JpvvMw pic.twitter.com/HFG7w2UrP0
— Gap Inc. (@GapInc) July 8, 2015
Although Rachel Taylor thanked Old Navy for carrying clothing styles she can fit, not every plus-sized shopper is grateful to the franchise. The company came under fire when it was realized that plus-sized women customers were charged more for clothes than other women. Since no such price change made for men’s clothing, the company was called out for sizeism and sexism.
Thanks to the ugly controversy, Old Navy certainly appreciates the vote of confidence from customers like Rachel Taylor. Whether or not that translates into fair pricing by Old Navy for its women customers is an entirely different story.
[Image Credit: Rachel Taylor/Facebook]
