Tess Holliday is tackling misconceptions surrounding anorexia nervosa and other restrictive eating disorders.
In response to a critic who dismissed her struggle with anorexia nervosa as attention-seeking, the 38-year-old model addressed the issue in a recent TikTok video. Holliday, who first disclosed her diagnosis in May 2021, highlighted the harmful nature of such remarks.
"Just because you don't like that I exist in a larger body and I deal with a restrictive eating disorder doesn't give you the right to just be a jerk," the body activist asserted, displaying the critical comment on screen.
"I know a lot of you guys can't believe that someone in a larger body can deal with a restrictive eating disorder, but it is true," she affirmed, aiming to dispel stereotypes and shed light on the reality of eating disorders affecting individuals of all body sizes.
@tessholliday Replying to @Zinger78 #greenscreen this comment comed up a lot & I’m sure will continue to. I chose to share this with the world & I know trolling comes with the territory, but if it helps one person thats all I care about. #recovery #vunerable @Sharon Maxwell @The New York Times ♬ original sound - Tess Holliday🍒
Holliday then directed her followers to a 2022 New York Times article titled "You Don't Look Anorexic," which featured individuals with larger bodies who were also dealing with restrictive eating disorders.
"I also can't blame you for not knowing because I myself did not know," Holliday continued, addressing the commenter. "And the more folks that talk about it and the more folks that normalize it, then the less that we will have to deal with people like [the commenter] who think that they deserve to just say whatever because they don't like what they're hearing or seeing."
As the founder of Eff Your Beauty Standards, Holliday further addressed her anorexia and ongoing recovery journey: "I wish I was in a good place with my recovery and I felt like this was something that I wanted to talk about more, but I currently don't," she explained.
"I'm currently just managing things the best I can, and if you don't like what I'm saying or how I talk about my lived experiences, then there are a million other people that you can follow, bully, harass, whatever," Holliday concluded the video, asserting her right to share her experiences and advocate for understanding and acceptance.
"This comment [comes] up a lot & I’m sure will continue to. I chose to share this with the world & I know trolling comes with the territory, but if it helps one person that's all I care about," the caption of the video read.
Holliday replied to the commenter on April 17, two days after she described her mental health as "a little fragile right now" in an April 15 video due in part to "fatphobic" comments.
"Sometimes some of us are just doing our best, we are," she said in the first video. "Sometimes we do make mistakes, we do. And we're not going to be perfect, we're not." Holliday went on to ask her followers not to call her "the most disgusting person on the planet" when she owns her mistakes.
Holliday also addressed the type of relationship she desires for her children to have with their bodies in a recent Instagram post. She urged people not to discuss dieting around her kids, emphasizing the importance of fostering a healthy body image.
"Kids hear enough, and I want mine to have a healthy relationship with their bodies and respect others' body autonomy as well," she wrote in the caption of a video addressing this topic.
If you or someone you know is grappling with an eating disorder, please visit NationalEatingDisorders.org for support and resources.
The Quran - Chapter Al-Jathiyah : 14 - 16
˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believers to forgive those who do not fear Allah’s days ˹of torment˺, so that He will reward each group for what they used to commit.
Whoever does good, it is to their own benefit. And whoever does evil, it is to their own loss. Then to your Lord you will ˹all˺ be returned.
Indeed, We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood; granted them good, lawful provisions; and favoured them above the others.
قُل لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَغْفِرُوا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ أَيَّامَ اللَّـهِ ("Tell those who believe that they should forgive those who do not believe in Allah's days ...14) ". There are two narrations recorded relating to its cause of revelation.
According to one narration, a pagan in Makkah reviled Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ and the latter intended to retaliate, but this verse came down and asked the believers to forgive the unbelievers and endure their harm that they direct against them.
According to this incident the verse is Makki. Another narration reports that on the occasion of the battle of Bani-l-Mustaliq, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and his Companions ؓ pitched their tent at a well called Muraisi'. ` Abdullah Ibn 'Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, was with the Muslims.
He sent his servant to fetch water from the well. He was delayed in returning. ` Abdullah Ibn 'Ubayy asked him to give reason why he was late.
He replied that one of Sayyidna ` Umar's ؓ servants was sitting on the bank of the well. He did not permit anyone to draw water unless the water-skins of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ were filled.
` Abdullah Ibn 'Ubayy cynically quoted the following proverb: سمّن کلبک یأکلک "Fatten your dog and it will eat you up." Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ heard about it, he armed himself with his sword and went towards ` Abdullah Ibn 'Ubayy.
This verse was revealed on that occasion. According to this incident, the verse is Madani. (Qurtubi and Ruh-ul-Ma'ani). If both the chains of transmitters can be authenticated, the two incidents can be synchronized thus:
In the first instance, the verse was originally revealed in Makkah. Then a similar incident took place on the occasion of the battle of Bani-l-Mustaliq.
The Messenger of Allah recited the verse and applied it to the second incident. This often happened in cases of the causes of Qur'anic revelation.
Another likelihood is that when the incident of the battle of Bani-l-Mustaliq took place, Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) might have come down with the verse the second time and reminded that this is an occasion to act upon it. In the technical parlance of Tafsir, it is called نزول مکرر or ` repeated revelation'.
The verse contains the expression أَيَّامَ اللَّـهِ , (Allah's days) which, according to most commentators, refers to ` reward and punishment' which Allah will requite on the Day of Requital. The word ayyam (days) in the Arabic language is abundantly used in the sense of ` turn of events'.
Another point worth noting is that when the Qur'an commanded ` Say, [ 0 Muhammad ], to the believers that they should forgive the disbelievers, it did not say, "forgive the idolaters"; instead it has said, "...forgive those who do not believe in Allah's days ...[ 14] ".
This probably purports to say that the real chastisement awaits them in the Hereafter, but because the unbelievers do not believe in the Hereafter, the punishment will be unexpected for them.
An unexpected torture is most excruciating, and therefore the torment will be most harrowing and agonizing. Thus they will be recompensed and repaid fully for all their evil deeds. The Muslims are not to bother about taking them to task for every little thing.
Some of the scholars maintain that the rule of forgiving the infidels applied only before the revelation of the verse of jihad.
When jihad was ordained, the rule of forgiveness, in terms of the current verse, was abrogated. However, most research scholars express the view that this verse has nothing to do with the verse of jihad.
The current verse sets down the general social law that the Muslims should not wreak vengeance for every little thing.
This law is universally applicable in every age and situation - the social law is needed even at the present time, and therefore it is not accurate to treat it as abrogated - especially if we were to take into account the circumstances under which it was revealed: the battle of Bani-l-Mustaliq.
If this battle is the cause of revelation of this verse, then verses of jihad cannot be the abrogators, because they were revealed before this event.
