Social media is a great way to connect with friends and family and share important moments in your life. Unfortunately, pictures online sometimes receive rude comments from strangers. Women often have to deal with an especially large amount of harassment online, but one incredible woman had a great response to the comments.
Porsche Thomas, an African American writer, actress, and model posted a photo of herself in a bikini on Instagram. At the time she posted the photo, Thomas was pregnant with twins, and her baby bump is visible. She looks great in the picture and received many positive comments, but a handful of people shared some awful thoughts. One commenter called her baby bump “nasty,” and another commenter asked why her stomach is “so black.”
Thomas said she wasn’t surprised by the hateful comments. She told BET, “We don’t really get to see black baby bumps and when we do, people have a negative reaction to it, for some reason, like it’s vulgar.” Shortly after the first Instagram post, she posted another photo of herself in a bikini. In this photo, she is standing in front of a colorful background and drinking tea while showing off her baby bump. Her caption reads, “While some of y’all been in my comments criticizing the blackness that is my belly and me during what shoulda been your holiday cheer, I been over here enjoying life, growing tiny humans, performing miracles and hopefully getting even blacker.
Thomas’ photos and comments have all been positive and respectful, so it’s unfortunate that she received any negative comments at all. However, her responses were positive, thoughtful, and powerful, and this situation has made many people aware of how women, especially African American women, receive so much negativity online. Sharing rude or hurtful comments about anyone’s body is never okay, and hopefully Thomas’ posts will help to reduce the negativity.