Body "Shaming"

Back in July, I heard about a young, "semi-famous," young lady, Dani Mathers (she was Playboy Playmate of the Year), putting a picture that she "claimed," was meant for a friend on Snapchat showing an older gal undressing in a women's locker room. The picture showed her stifling a laugh with the quote, "If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.” Wow. Okay, I have lots to say about this, so hang on tight for this soapbox "rant."  First of all, when you are in a women's locker room, it's PRIVATE. You don't sit there taking pictures of someone else, especially while they are undressing. The woman who got her picture taken could press criminal charges. I really hope that she does! Second, the older gal was in her 70's. I applaud her for going to the gym. Did Ms. Mathers know anything about the woman? is she married? have children? have grandchildren? That picture is out in the Internet forever. Did Ms. Mathers think about that before she took the picture with the unflattering caption? No, I'm sure she didn't. Taking the picture and posting it is bullying. When I was in high school, I was bullied by some of my peers. They thought it was the funniest thing in the world to make me cry. Even now, 35 years later, I still think of those women with disdain. The way they made me feel is something you never forget. Bullying is so much worse now with social media. Third, I don't buy the whole, "I'm new to Snapchat," apology. Ms. Mathers tried to apologize,

“I just want to acknowledge a photo that I accidentally posted,” It was absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do. I chose to do what I do for a living because I love the female body and I know body shaming is wrong, that’s not what I’m about and this is not the type of person I am. The photo was taken as part of a personal conversation with a girlfriend and because I am new to Snapchat I really didn’t realize I had posted it, and that was a huge mistake. I know I have upset a lot of people out there but please, please believe me this when I say this: This is not the type of person that I am. I have never done this before and I will never do this again, you have my word.”

Why would you send a picture of an older gal undressing to your "friend," in the first place? If Ms. Mathers thinks she has a beautiful body and it makes her feel good to mock someone else then I think it shows exactly the "type," of person she is. Finally, who is Ms. Mathers to judge anyone? She knew what she was doing wasn't right and she still did it anyways. I think she needs to be punished to the full extent of the law, which could be $1 million and time in jail. Unfortunately, no amount of money or jail time will help the embarrassment I'm sure the older gal felt when she found out. I'm sure she had no clue that Ms. Mathers was watching her, much less taking a picture of her. Okay, thanks for listening, I'm done now!