To a New Dawn: Letters of Solidarity Anthology

CHARLIE DAWN-SADLER, 23 For Women, unconditionally, During lockdown, like thousands of us around the country, I found myself a new hobby. A lifelong lover of literature, I decided to share my thoughts, recommendations and book reviews in video format to YouTube. This niche little corner of the site is affectionately referred to as ‘BookTube’, a great space for people to excitedly share their bookish opinions with other bibliophiles.

After editing and double checking, processing and loading, I was eager to see the kind of reaction I would get. Three minutes later, I found out. A comment, woohoo! What does it say? What did they think? In large capital letters, the comment reads: “LOSE WEIGHT FATTY!!”

Now, at 23 years old and with a lifetime of fat-shaming under my belt, I chuckled and guffawed at the surprise of it. After texting my friends and hilariously sharing it to my Instagram story, it got me thinking: what effect would this have had on me five years ago? Would I have burst into laughter or tears?

For some, a comment like that could send them plummeting into the depths of self-conscious loathing.

Comments like these are demeaning, cruel and intentionally harmful; they are all these things and more, but one thought twisted through my mind again and again: why?

I wondered less about why the anonymous commenter would say that to me (people have their own bizarre 20