A mother-of-three has hit back men’s ‘gross’ unsolicited comments about her body, by sharing a series of images of herself in lingerie – and branding them with the phrase ‘not an invitation’.
Sarah Nicole Landry, 34, from Ontario, Canada, grew a social following by documenting her 112 pound (eight stone) weight loss journey online with a carefully curated feed she hoped would empower other women.
The Instagram page – which has amassed 779,000 followers – proudly displays the mother’s excess skin and stretch marks that remained after she successfully halved her body weight in 2014 – when she tipped the scales at 224 pounds (16 stone).
While the influencer received mostly positive feedback, Sarah was bombarded with ‘frustrating’ messages from men, admitting she even gets sexual messages about her feet.
Sarah Nicole Landry, 34, from Ontario, Canada has hit back men’s ‘gross’ unsolicited comments about her body by sharing a series of images of herself in lacy lingerie, branding them with the phrase ‘not an invitation’
Captioning the picture, which racked up almost 80,000 likes, she said: ‘When I share my stretch marks or cellulite, it often comes with the word ‘still’ – ‘I would still f*** that’ or ‘I would still bang that’.
She said: ‘If my bare feet are showing in flip flops, I’ll get messages about how much somebody wants to do certain things to them.
‘My own foot can’t exist in this world without someone telling me what they want to do to it. I shouldn’t have to wear socks every day so a man doesn’t comment on my feet.’
Sarah claims its’ really frustrating’, because no matter where she was in her journey, or how much she was wearing, she was getting unsolicited comments from men.
Captioning the picture, which racked up almost 80,000 likes, she said: ‘My body is on this earth for more than men’s pleasure.
‘When I share my stretch marks or cellulite, it often comes with the word ‘still’ – ‘I would still f*** that’ or ‘I would still bang that’.
‘So I put on a bodysuit that I knew would be eye-catching enough to say ‘even if I’m in lingerie, it’s still not okay to make those comments about my body’.
The mother-of-three grew a social following by documenting her eight stone weight-loss journey online with a carefully curated feed she hoped would empower other women
After the birth of her three children, Sarah crept up to 225lbs (16st 1lbs), left, but after losing half her weight, the mum struggled with the excess skin and stretch marks that remained, right
Since sharing the images, Sarah has received an inbox full of messages from women with similar experiences – where men had even commented on pictures of them breastfeeding.
By branding her pictures with ‘not an invitation’, she hopes it will remind men, and women, that her body is not there for their approval or arousal.
Sarah said: ‘It’s such a shame this is still happening in 2019.
‘When I shared the post, it was resounding how many women have had this experience after sharing a breastfeeding picture or their pregnant belly.
‘It was really quite shocking to hear that people very much had this mentality of ‘if you’re going to dress like that, then you’re asking for that’.
Sarah began to get bombarded with ‘frustrating’ messages from men, admitting she even gets sexual messages about her feet
Since sharing the images, Sarah has received an inbox full of messages from women with similar experiences – where men had even commented on pictures of them breastfeeding
By branding her pictures with ‘not an invitation’, she hopes it will remind men, and women, that her body is not there for their approval or arousal
Sarah recalls: ‘One woman even said her attacker asked her ‘well, what do you expect when you tempt me all the time with your pictures on social media?’.
Adding: ‘It’s not about changing how women are, it’s changing how men (and women) respond.
‘It comes back to this whole notion that women are owned by men.’
Sarah’s post has since received more than 77, 000 likes on Instagram with comments from people thanking her for so bravely approaching the subject.
But she was most shocked by feedback she received from other women, who ‘completely disagreed’ with the idea that how you dress wasn’t inviting attention.
Sarah said: ‘There was a lot of negative attention as well. There was a lot of men and women who completely disagreed.
Sarah’s post has since received more than 77, 000 likes on Instagram with comments from people thanking her for so bravely approaching the subject
Sarah admits ‘there was a lot of negative attention as well’ and shared some of the comments left underneath her picture
Sarah admitted she was most shocked by feedback she received from other women, who ‘completely disagreed’ with the idea that how you dress wasn’t inviting attention
‘They believe that the idea of how you dress and how you look is ‘asking for it’.
‘What’s disheartening is not so much women saying this, [but] that they’ve been led to believe that. I don’t think [those] women understand the full scope of what they’re supporting.
‘It just makes me more sad that they’re existing in a narrative where it’s okay for women to be sent unsolicited photos in their messages of genitalia.
Sarah proclaimed: ‘We are so much more than our bodies and how we look to the opposite sex.
Adding: ‘It’s not a compliment. It’s not saying ‘you look really beautiful’ or ‘I love your confidence’. It’s not like that. It feels gross for the person that receives it.’
Sarah says that since raising this conversation, she hasn’t yet to come across a woman who hasn’t experienced this behavior. Claiming, even her own mother has received them.
‘Instead of changing the conditions in which men are being held responsible, they’re putting it back on to the women by saying cover up more.’
Sarah’s post has since received more than 77, 000 likes on Instagram with comments from people thanking her for so bravely approaching the subject
Sarah said in a powerful caption: ‘We are so much more than our bodies and how we look to the opposite sex. It’s not a compliment’.