Jameela Jamil calls out "body shaming" man after encounter at gym

The British presenter, and star of US comedy The Good Place, posted a video in which she described how the man had approached her after her work-out.

Jamil, who explained that she exercises to help with anxiety issues, said:
"I was just leaving the gym and a man I did not know approached me and asked me what work-out I’d just been doing, so I told him that I’d been cycling – because I have anxiety and that’s why I come to the gym – and he decided to tell me without prompt that he’s seen me around and he always thinks ‘ah, what a shame, she could look so amazing’ and there’s so many different things I could do to improve my body.

"So he essentially walked up to me and body-shamed me in the middle of the gym."

A clearly incensed Jamil suggested that attitudes like this are the reason many people who want to exercise feel uncomfortable with going to gyms.

"This is why I think so many people who want to exercise don’t, because they’re afraid of being judged at the gym," she said. "I don’t like walking around now thinking that people are looking at me and analysing and thinking what I should or should not look like...

"I’m comfortable, I enjoy my body, I enjoy my curves. I’m also, by the way, a US size 6 to 8 so if that’s how I’m being spoken to in the gym you can imagine what people say to people who are larger than that…

"Don’t stop yourself from going to the gym because of these stupid people who, they themselves, are clearly slightly insecure..."

And she had a clear message for anyone considering imposing similar views on people in future.

"Never walk up to someone and tell them how much better they could look. You’re not being nice, you’re shaming them for the way they currently look. You’re also being extremely weird."

See the full video post below.

Warning: contains swearing

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