Watch: Plus Size Model Confronts Body Shamer on American Airlines Flight
Plus size model Natalie Hage recorded herself confronting a man who body-shamed her on an American [...]
Plus size model Natalie Hage recorded herself confronting a man who body-shamed her on an American Airlines flight. The video, originally posted on Hage's Facebook, went viral with over 1 million views before being taken down.
The incident started after Hage boarded a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles and took a middle seat in an exit row, ABC News reports.
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"I noticed immediately that the man to my left at the window was huffing and sighing incredibly loud, like obviously loud and pointed," Hage said.
She soon discovered that the man was taking photos of her and texting someone about her. The texts were not kind.
"I think she ate a Mexican," Hage said that the man texted to someone, later adding "If the news reports a DFW Airbus A321 leaving the runway without rotating, that would be my flight."
Hage was made so uncomfortable by the experience that when the plane landed at LAX, the 30-year-old body positive model decided to confront him.
"You have no idea who you'll hurt with those kind of things," Hage can be heard saying in the video. She deliberately did not film the man's face. "You made me feel so uncomfortable to exist in this seat."
While the man initially denied the messages, he eventually apologized, giving alcohol as the reason for his bad behavior, but even beyond the experience on the plane Hage says that incidents like these are part of her daily reality.
"This is a fat person's daily reality and not just on a plane," she wrote on Instagram. "You can be completely in your own space, not bothering anyone, and people will still … try and hurt you."
Hage hopes to use her experience to let others in similar situations know that they aren't alone.
"It doesn't matter how or why you might be overweight or you might be fat, but you still deserve to be treated like a human being."
Photo: Twitter / @mariedenee
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