Plus-size model body-shamed by man texting about her on flight

Roshina Jowaheer

i'm shaking right now. i'm on a flight to LA right now on @americanair. i paid almost $70 extra for this seat i'm in because i know i need a little extra leg room. i'm extremely flight anxious but there were only middle seats available so i had to take what i could get. as soon as i sat down, the gentleman on my left began LOUDLY huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat. i see him furiously texting and then purposefully turning the phone away from me. so, naturally next time he texts, i take a look. the texts were about me and i'm almost positive he took photos of me. not only were the texts about me, but they were really mean and ugly, with even the recipient named 'linda' chiming back with shaming retorts...someone who can't even see the situation. if you can't read the texts, it says 'hopefully she didn't have any mexican food' and his response is 'i think she ate a mexican'. then he proceeds to say he's leaving a 'neck mark on the window' because he's so smashed against the wall. from the photos, you can see i'm not in his space. he's even taken over both arm rests on purpose, coming to my space and digging his elbows into my side...which is in my seat. his next text to her was 'if the news reports a DFW airbus a321 leaving the runway without rotating, that would be my flight.' another i see later? 'if these seats don't hold, it's not going to matter.' and that's just a few of them. there were several more. i didn't do anything to him. i'm in my seat, completely (see photos). i am crumpled into a ball trying to not bother. i'm just so upset. i asked the other man to my right if he'd switch me and told him what the man was saying about me and he said laughed and refused. that's fine, it's not his issue. this is a fat person's daily reality and not just on a plane. this is on a bus, standing in line at the grocery store, at a concert, on the internet. you can be completely in your own space, not bothering anyone, and people will still fuck with you and try to hurt you. all you can do is know you haven't done anything wrong just by existing and to move on. this just makes me a mixture of enraged and super sad.

A post shared by natalie. (@nataliemeansnice) on Jun 29, 2017 at 9:55am PDT



A plus-size model has taken to social media to speak of being body-shamed by a passenger on a flight to Los Angeles.

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Natalie Hage sat in her middle seat on the American Airlines flight on Thursday when the man began sending "mean and ugly" messages to his friend about her.

The American model, who has 115,000 Instagram followers, shared photos of the man texting about her, which left her "shaking".

Writing the he began "huffing and sighing," Natalie then explained how the man claimed to his friend that he was leaving "neck marks on the window" as he was so squished, but photos show the stranger with clearly enough space in his seat.

at the @torridfashion pool party! being surrounded by perfect people is my favorite!

A post shared by natalie. (@nataliemeansnice) on May 6, 2017 at 2:13pm PDT



"If you can't read the texts, it says 'hopefully she didn't have any Mexican food," Natalie says. "His response is 'I think she ate a Mexican'."

According to Refinery29, Natalie later confronted the man who apologised and said he was drinking, but added: "When they ask if you're willing and capable to assist people in getting off the airplane in an emergency, do you honestly think you are?"

Natalie replied that "my body is none of your business" and told him "don't ever treat anyone like that again."

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