I'm not a huge Gym Shark fan, but there recent body-positive campaign on Instagram has caught my attention. The fitness brand is known for dominating the social media world. And, since social media is filled with diet culture and fat-shaming messages, it's refreshing to see such a popular athletic company come out of the shadows and recognize health at every size.
Gym Shark finally reposted the drop-dead gorgeous model Nelly London's photo and the caption that outlines the beauty and strength of all bodies. Nelly is a fashion influencer that embraces her eating disorder recovery, body-respect, and sexy confidence. We need more encouraging and inspiring influencers who fight for body diversity. What can I say? Nelly London is our new body-positive hero.
And, I'm proud of Gym Shark for challenging Instagram's "ideal" body, supporting such a beautiful, real soul, and biting back at the haters.
Gym Shark has had a ton of positive responses as people thanked them for their inclusivity of all shapes and sizes. One of my favorites is: "Coming from someone who used to look at your clothing and know that I didn't look like any of the athletes you had on your Instagram and website, this means a lot. Representation matters. Thank you."
However, the haters were quick to join the party. I hate to say it, but there were some awful comments about this stunning woman. Let's not forget that Nelly is a normal woman in gym wear with real human feelings and an amazing human body.
Thankfully, Gym Shark stood by their stance and explained, "Healthy looks different on everyone and cannot be judged by someone's looks."
As someone who has recently cleansed their social media of all toxic influencers and news, I cannot thank the fitness company enough for normalizing self-love and body respect. No matter all the negativity that flooded their post, Gym Shark gained the respect of so many individuals who crave more body-positive social media posts.
After all this, I think I'm a new Gym Shark fan.