In a now-viral post, author Robbie Tripp posted his undying affection for his wife’s curves to Instagram last week, and as a result became the focus of a swelling of national media attention.
His Instagram, gushing about his appreciation of “thicker” bodies and his wife’s “beautiful stretch marks,” has amassed over 25,000 likes on Instagram as well as attracting the attention of more than one national media post lauding him for his post.
The problem? Well, for many women, it’s the fact that this is considered “news” at all, considering an attraction to one’s wife shouldn’t be alien. Many are also finding the tone of the post self-congratulatory and (unintentionally or not) propagating the notion that to find curvy women attractive is unheard of.
“As a teenager, I was often teased by my friends for my attraction to girls on the thicker side,” Tripp writes, “For me, there is nothing sexier than this woman right here: thick thighs, big booty, cute little side roll, etc.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXMSZz3h2tS/
At the end of the post he directs his attention towards “girls,” instructing them to find “a guy out there who is going to celebrate you for exactly who you are, someone who will love you like I love my Sarah.”
While the post is likely well-meaning, many users on Twitter are calling Tripp out for the public manner in which he told his wife he appreciates her as well as the implication that he somehow deserves applause for loving her.
strong contender for least fave type of male feminist is "man who thinks liking a curvy woman is revolutionary" pic.twitter.com/BzDhhiSHNA
— Julia Pugachevsky (@jaypugz) August 3, 2017
I love this woman and her curvy body. As a teenager, I was often teased by my friends for my attraction to girls on the thicker side, ones w pic.twitter.com/j7a6NOp8UJ
— Scaachi (@Scaachi) August 4, 2017
Imagine loving your wife's curvy body so much you don't have to talk about it on social media.
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) August 4, 2017
Nobody gets brownie points for saying they're not actively repulsed by a slightly curvy woman's body
— Bailey, ABD (@the_author_) August 4, 2017
“You are not revolutionary for liking thick women,” one user wrote on his Instagram.
“Yes, this is the sweetest thing I’ve read,” another wrote, close behind.
The above split reactions to the post seem representative of the responses to the post as a whole, which have been both overwhelmingly positive and mocking. While it is beautiful to love and appreciate bodies of all sizes, suggesting that in loving a curvy woman you are both an outlier and a hero for loving someone who you think of as unlovable is problematic for more reasons than one.
