Heroes are not always wearing a cape and saving cats in trees. Sometimes a hero is just a woman shopping at a department store, standing up for what she believes in.
Today, photographer Rachel Taylor from Louisiana is that hero. Taylor posted a photo of herself on Facebook in an Old Navy dressing room. Not breaking news right? We agree, it’s a completely typical selfie if you don’t know the backstory.
Luckily for us, and everyone in the world, Taylor did share the reason she was so inclined to take a photo of herself in Old Navy… and it’s incredible. “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!'” Taylor wrote on Facebook.
The posted continued: “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 the store to the car. I sat in the car crying for a long time but eventually went back inside to finish my shopping. I ended up buying that tank top because, it turns out, I look fierce in it! Be kind. Think about others before you speak. And if someone hurts you, you have to move on.”
Taylor’s message is a powerful one. Not only is that tank top so far from being “huge,” but also, Taylor put that girl and her fat-shaming mother in their place — without saying a word.
Obviously Taylor looks great in the tank top, but this photo is more than that — to show everyone out there, that size is nothing but a number. Also, it’s another incident that shows just how powerful words can be, even if they aren’t directed at anyone. Ignorance can easily lead to hate, but in Taylor’s situation, ignorance lead to a fabulous new wardrobe piece.
Thanks, Rachel!
