News anchor Nina Harrelson is standing up for herself and journalists everywhere after getting body shamed.
The weekend anchor at WREG in Memphis decided to speak out on social media after getting a rude comment from a viewer.
“ ‘You look mighty big on TV!’ That’s what a complete stranger just said to me,” Harrelson posted on Facebook and Twitter on Sunday.
“FYI — journalists are not models… And I can assure you, none of us want to hear your opinions on our bodies,” she continued. “WE ARE NOT YOUR EYE CANDY.”
Harrelson said that at this point in her career, the body shaming comments she hears from viewers don’t have much of an impact. The reason she’s speaking out, though, is for those who are new to the industry.
“Luckily, after nearly nine years in this business, I have a very thick skin,” she said. “But I feel sorry for the young women breaking into news who will have to deal with that kind of criticism, which their male colleagues will almost certainly never face.”
Harrelson’s Twitter post quickly racked up likes, with over 100,000 in just one day. And she got tons of support from viewers and fellow broadcasters in the comments.
Harrelson’s situation is unfortunately not unique, and female reporters frequently share the rude comments they get on social media. Just three weeks earlier, St. Louis meteorologist Tracy Hinson said a viewer told her to cover “the bulge in your stomach” and to try a “girdle for the stomach overhang.”
Hinson told the body shamer that she’s happy with her body.
“NO I will not be strapping myself into a girdle because you don’t like my belly,” she replied. “I like pasta, bread and cheese too much to obsess over my weight. I like my body and that’s all that really matters.”
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