Body-shame a lovely young woman in this age of social media, and she will make sure everyone knows about it.
Sherene Zarrabi, a college senior at Oklahoma State University, was shamed by her boss for not being “model material,” aka not being a size small, according to Cosmopolitan. While working at the boutique Dainty Hooligan, Sherene promoted some of the clothing by posting pictures of herself on the shop’s Instagram. The last thing she was expecting to receive was an email forwarded by her manager from the company’s CEO, Jessica Issler, in which she blatantly insulted Sherene’s body.
“Something I want to make sure you keep in mind,” Issler wrote, “I want size small, the stereotypical ‘model’ type to model our clothes.” She also removed all of Zarrabi’s photos from the store’s Instagram page.
Following the attack, Zarrabi promptly quit her job and took the issue to Facebook.
This is an email I was forwarded earlier. I just want to start by saying this: I am fully comfortable with who I am and…
Posted by Sherene Marie Zarrabi on Monday, February 1, 2016
Despite this post being shared thousands of times, Issler continued to defend her actions. She informed The O’Colly, Oklahoma State’s newspaper, “My No. 1 priority is the safety of my staff, so the evil and lack of positivity is terrifying. This girl has now created a hostile work environment because she has a sad body image of herself.”
Not sure what Issler is referring to when she says “evil,” and it really seems like she’s the one with a “lack of positivity” as she’s hating on another person’s body, but whatever. Issler later gave Zarrabi a halfhearted apology, but Zarabi stands by her reaction.
“I am proud of myself for quitting,” Zarrabi told The O’Colly. “What I really want is for young girls, like my sister, to know that you don’t have to be a certain size to be beautiful. I wouldn’t have posted the pictures if I wasn’t confident in myself. Her comments just prove that she’ll say anything to make herself look better.”