Something a little weird happened on the internet this week.
A man named Robbie Tripp announced he loved his wife, Sarah, even though she’s ‘curvy‘ – and weirdly, people praised him for it.
Yep, a normal looking bloke loving a normal looking woman made international headlines.
Tripp posted an image of the couple on Instagram, announcing: “I love this woman and her curvy body”.
Which is sweet, it’s kind of sweet. But also, does it even need to be said?
He then went on to explain that he’s always liked women who were “on the thicker side” and that his attraction to women who were “shorter and curvier” made him a target for bullies when he was a teenager.
“Girls that the average (basic) bro might refer to as ‘chubby’ or even ‘fat'”, he writes.
And that’s when you realise this post is less about his awesome, curvy wife and more about what a hero Robbie is for loving her.
He then goes on to explain to us simple, curvy women about feminism (What that be?) and how the media “marginalises women by portraying a very narrow and very specific standard of beauty” (They did what now? Let’s grab some bags of chips and discuss ASAP).
“I realized how many men have bought into that lie,” he writes. “For me, there is nothing sexier than this woman right here: thick thighs, big booty, cute little side roll, etc. Her shape and size won’t be the one featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan but it’s the one featured in my life and in my heart.”
He says his wife “fills out every inch of her jeans” and that guys need to rethink what society has told them to desire.
He finishes off his post with a message for all the “chubby” women out there.
“Girls, don’t ever fool yourself by thinking you have to fit a certain mold to be loved and appreciated,” he writes. “There is 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.”
Um, thank you?
The thing is, it’s 2017 and average blokes shouldn’t be praised for being decent human beings.
No woman has ever been praised for loving a man with a beer gut, chicken legs or a receding hairline. No woman has ever announced “I love this man and his man titties” on Instagram.
There’s no doubt that Robbie loves his wife, and after a quick peruse of their Instagram accounts, you’ll see that they make a cute couple.
You’ll also notice they’re both ‘social media influencers’ and that this was probably a well-executed attempt to go viral, that bloody worked.
The thing is, Robbie’s post would have been far more powerful and authentic if he’d just written “I love this woman” and left it at that.
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What do you think of Robbie’s message?
Top Comments
I think people are a bit harsh on this guy. Yeah, he's clumsy with words, but it's true that the media still promotes skinny as the ideal. Why not go after a guy who is genuinely deserving of such outrage?
Thought this article was ten years old. Thought the shift from the anorexic model ideal to more "fit" looks which are often "curvy" had already solidly occurred, no?