8-Months Pregnant Woman Claps Back at Man Who Told Her to 'Go on a Diet'

One woman is clapping back at a body-shaming stranger who joked about her weight while she's eight months pregnant.

Ali Maffucci was standing in line to catch a ferry home from downtown Manhattan to Jersey City when a man, who she described to be in his late 50s, told her, "You need to go on a diet!" and laughed, she said in an Instagram post Wednesday.

"I was stunned and didn't know what to say so after an awkward silence (I uttered a cold 'uhhh'), he then goes, 'I bet you hear that a lot, right?' to which I responded, 'No, I don't.'' She says he laughed again, then they boarded the ferry.

Today, as I was waiting in line to catch the ferry back home to Jersey City, a man, probably in his late 50s, turned to me and said, "You need to go on a diet!" and started boisterously laughing. I was stunned and didn't know what to say so after an awkward silence (I uttered a cold "uhhh"), he then goes, "I bet you hear that a lot, right?" to which I responded, "No, I don't." He laughed awkwardly, took the hint, and we boarded the ferry. I sat across from him on the boat and thought of all the things I WISH I had said to him in the moment. I was just so absolutely shocked that someone could be that out of touch, insensitive, and arrogant. I have so many thoughts about this and I'm thinking of pouring it all out into a blog post, but for now, I'd just like to say that it's NOT okay to make jokes about someone's appearance- positive, neutral or negative. Thankfully, I've never had body issues, so his comments didn't knock me down, but I found myself angry with the thought that he may have said this to another pregnant woman who may have had issues with her confidence and this could be crushing and cause her to doubt her beauty and her body. And because of that, I had to talk about this and share my experience. Pregnancy is beautiful, and has nothing to do with a certain weight. For my fellow pregnant mamas, don't let anyone make you feel like your body isn't anything less than perfect. You're a walking miracle, so strut that little human being growing inside of you. And to that douche on the ferry- I cringe for you. Photo by @eedwyer

A post shared by alissandra b. maffucci (@alissandrab) on Aug 15, 2017 at 6:23pm PDT

"I sat across from him on the boat and thought of all the things I WISH I had said to him in the moment. I was just so absolutely shocked that someone could be that out of touch, insensitive, and arrogant."

Maffucci, who is the author and creator of Inspiralized—a healthy food blog for spiralizer recipes—says she's never had issues with her body image, but she fears the man may have joked with other pregnant women who aren't so confident with their appearances.

She ended her story with a message for both pregnant women and for the jerk who shamed her: "Pregnancy is beautiful, and has nothing to do with a certain weight. For my fellow pregnant mamas, don't let anyone make you feel like your body isn't anything less than perfect. You're a walking miracle, so strut that little human being growing inside of you. And to that douche on the ferry-I cringe for you."

Almost immediately after sharing her story on two Instagram accounts, @inspiralized and @alissandrab, Maffucci said women messaged her with similar—and more traumatizing—stories.

She shared a few of the stories in an op-ed for Cosmopolitan, including one that highlighted exactly what she feared. A "follower told me in a private DM that a man at a coffee shop, while she was buying a slice of banana bread, told her that she should 'lay off on the sugar' if she wants to 'snap back' into shape after birth. What the man didn't know is that this poor woman struggled with binge eating disorder for most of her young adulthood and ended up going into work and throwing up in the bathroom that morning.

Maffucci said many of the body shaming stories she received were women shaming other women, even if they weren't being intentionally rude. "One woman's female nail technician asked her what sex the baby was, because she could tell, based on how she'd gained weight 'all over' that she was probably having a girl," she shared. These subtle digs at weight and body image can leave women feeling defeated, inadequate and weak.

One day after the incident, Maffucci says she has gathered the words she wished she had told the man on the ferry. Cosmopolitan published her full letter, which reads in part:

"…Let me speak on behalf of all pregnant women when I say that we're tired of you telling us how big we look or that we should modify our lifestyles to fit your shallow expectations. We're not here to serve your fantasies or look a certain way for your visual enjoyment. We're walking around building an actual human life, something you'll never have the chance in your life to do."

Whether or not the man on the ferry reads Maffucci's letter, she speaks on behalf of millions of women, and no one could've said it better.