They weren’t alone in this sentiment, with a further TikTok user adding: “I can’t say I’ve ever in my 50yrs of life made a purchasing decision based on… how the artisan looks. Who does that?!”
“What on earth went through that person’s mind that they thought that was an okay thing to say? Like what was the thought process,” another mused.
According to Leah, the “mixed reaction” on TikTok has been “both amazing and awful at the same time”.
“Thousands of people have sent me words of love which I am genuinely incredibly grateful for.” she said. “But, there’s also a lot of ‘the email is right’ comments alongside others. They are hard to read but I’m trying to be grateful for the opportunities this whole thing has given me.
“My jewellery business is small — we make on average 10-to-15 sales a day. We’re a small team — it’s me, my boyfriend and my mum (and occasionally my sister and my dad help!), and whilst there’s lots of negativity surrounding the email — people suggesting it’s a PR stunt, that I do need to lose weight, that I should hire models instead of taking my own face on social media and many other either untrue comments or unkind ones… it’s also shown my small business to lots of new people.
She continued, “And it’s started what I think is an important conversation about women’s bodies, being a small business owner and how, at the end of the day… you shouldn’t decide to support a small business or not because of the owner’s appearance.”
Sadly, unsolicited comments on women’s bodies occur universally — and often. Last week, Mamamia‘s own Emily Vernem was trying on jeans when a shop assistant asked her if she had PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome).
This post was originally published on here
