Meteorologist Katie Fehlinger Puts Body-Shamers in Their Place After Negative Social Media Comments

Posted by Stephanie JonesPosted 8 years ago August 22, 2015

(PCM) There’s a lot of shaming going on in the world today, especially on social media. It seems like anyone can be shamed for anything; there’s fat-shaming, skinny-shaming, makeup-shaming, parenting-shaming, and the list goes on-and-on. But now, it seems that some particularly nasty trolls on social media have taken to shaming pregnant women. CBS 3 Philly Meteorologist Katie Fehlinger learned about this cruel form of shaming after receiving more than one horrible comment regarding her appearance in recent weeks. Fehlinger, who is 38 weeks pregnant with two twin girls, has continued to report the daily weather every morning on CBS 3 Philly, having her image broadcast into the homes of millions of Americans every morning. It’s no secret that news anchors and meteorologists are the subjects of frequent critique and ridicule when it comes to their appearance; when people are watching you every morning, they feel entitled to freely share their opinion on your looks, no matter how rude or negative the remarks. Most anchors accept this as part of the job and do their best to shake it off, but every now and again a viewer goes too far and needs to be put in their place. That’s what Fehlinger did in a very well-written Facebook post after receiving two incredibly rude comments regarding her pregnant figure.

A message for the haters…Hey guys! Once more, I have to get something off my chest. So, the nature of my job makes… Posted by Katie Fehlinger on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The post, starting with “A message for the haters…,” goes on to condemn those who think it’s okay to ridicule a pregnant woman’s body and lifts up pregnant women everywhere for their sacrifice and for being beautiful. The post reads in part: “Hey guys! Once more, I have to get something off my chest. So, the nature of my job makes me an easy target for criticism. I will always understand that, and I will most typically just ignore it. However, after someone blatantly called me a “sausage in casing” and another declared that “sticking your pregnant abdomen out like that is disgusting”, I felt a need to draw a line and speak up. Everyone’s right to their opinion is important, but so are manners. And while rude comments like these will never make me feel the need to change anything about myself, I find a bigger underlying issue here. These particular nasty-grams were directed at a pregnant woman.

So this little manifesto of sorts is dedicated to every mother out there – other pregnant moms-to-be, moms reading this while their toddlers play on the swing set, moms whose kids have long since gone off to college… You are beautiful. Even during the most uncomfortable – and let’s face it, less than glamorous – symptoms of pregnancy, what women go through to bring their precious children into the world is, simply put, AMAZING and you should be lauded. Frankly, I don’t care how “terrible” or “inappropriate” anyone thinks I look. I will gladly gain 50 pounds & suffer sleepless, uncomfortable nights if it means upping my chances to deliver 2 healthy baby girls. Now it’s about more than aesthetics. I want these babies to have the best start possible. And that hopefully means my belly that “looks like it’s about to explode!” will continue to grow the next few weeks.” Fellow news anchors and moms around the country showed an overflow of support for Katie Fehlinger on social media, to which she had this to say: “Beyond overwhelmed at the response! I NEVER expected this. In truth, I went in hoping for some catharsis more than anything smile emoticon But, when you think about it, it’s one of the most relatable topics out there. Everyone has a mom. Every human being on earth is here because a woman went through this journey…and THAT should be celebrated. Thank you all for proving that positivity outweighs the negative.” You go, Katie Fehlinger!