Woman Banned From Planet Fitness for Body Shaming Woman With BBL…Then Keeps Body Shaming Woman With BBL

Despite the backlash, Loren (who brags that she works out 3 times a day) has quadrupled down on her stance that getting a BBL is bad and embracing a #naturalbody is better.

By Milly Tamarez  |  February 13, 2024 | 11:57am
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Woman Banned From Planet Fitness for Body Shaming Woman With BBL…Then Keeps Body Shaming Woman With BBL

A little over a week ago, a woman named Loren was working out with her sister in the Compton Planet Fitness when she said she saw something so “distracting” it weighed on her “conscious.” Loren paused her workout, pulled out her cell phone, and began to record. The thing that shocked her to her core? Another woman’s surgically enlarged butt.

Loren superimposed text over the video that read “ok, the BBLs have gone too far…” and zoomed in on said Brazilian Butt Lift and wrote “way too far.” She posted the video to TikTok with the caption, “🥶yeah ill keep my butt 🤮 #bbl,” where it currently has over 2.7 million views as well over 12 million on Twitter.

The mystery BBL woman has since addressed the situation on her own TikTok. Melissa, an influencer and Only Fans creator, originally laughed off Loren’s video, saying, “I think my watermelon leggings were a hit.” But in a later video, Melissa shared (in Spanish) a more concerning perspective: She said that not only was she a victim of cyberbullying–because now millions of online strangers are making fun of her looks–but since Loren’s video focused on her butt, she considers the video sexual harassment.

Melissa also suggested that because she’s an immigrant from Mexico, people don’t necessarily expect her to speak up for herself but that she wants to speak on behalf of all women with BBLs and let the world know that they still have a right to privacy. She said she’s proud of her BBL but that doesn’t mean it’s OK for anyone to take videos without her consent. (I’m disappointed someone would feel the need to say this but I’m not surprised.) Loren then made another video to say that if someone has a butt that big they obviously want attention and should have no expectation of privacy. She then felt the need to say that if someone has a BBL, they’re clearly not trying to be known for their intellect. Melissa reported Loren to Planet Fitness corporate, and to Planet Fitness’ credit, they banned her from all of their locations for violating their zero-judgment policies.

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The incident has unsurprisingly sparked multiple conversations, from body shaming to privacy expectations to cyberbullying–with most noting how Loren displayed “loser behavior” by making fun of another woman’s looks. In the era of being a “girl’s girl,” it’s gauche to use your platform to hate on someone’s big butt.

And Loren’s “takes” are complicated further when you hear criticism from other black women who point out that a majority of Loren’s page was dedicated to overemphasizing her mixed-race identity–suggesting she’s someone who’s still subscribing to colorists/white supremacist hierarchies, which see mixed race “light-skin” black women as more valuable than women with two black parents or darker complexions.

Despite all of the above, Loren has since quadrupled down on her stance that getting a BBL is bad and embracing a “natural body” is better. Even though in other TikToks, she brags about working out three times a day…which does not sound like someone comfortable embracing their #naturalbody.

It’s easy to write off Loren as a clout chaser but her clear public disdain towards bodies like Melissa’s is like this freaky modern twist to outdated patriarchal stereotypes, in which she sees herself as having more substance and value because she’s willing to pay $1,000 to work out her butt in the gym but not to surgically enhance it. I doubt people who take pleasure in making fun of other people’s plastic surgery are celebrating cellulite, larger bellies, flat butts, and small breasts, but I digress.

Since February 1, Loren’s posted over 13 TikToks in response to the backlash she’s received–and not just from her TikTok about Melissa, but for her TikToks where she documents workouts, shows off her fancier gym, and urges haters to put $10,000 down “on a LEGAL fight or hush.”

In her most honest TikTok, Loren confessed to viewers what everyone already suspected, which is that the mere presence of another woman’s butt triggers an insecurity in her. “I don’t feel bad about putting the attention on the woman who was showing off her ass in public, with all these people around, not giving a damn how we feel.”

As the body positivity movement continues to clash with the rise of BBLs, and the debate on the etiquette of recording strangers in public continues, one thing becomes clear…none of these conversations will be taking place in a Planet Fitness.

 
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