Victoria Beckham's social media ban on daughter Harper as she worries about online body shaming: 'How cruel people can be'
Victoria Beckham discusses her experience of being body shamed and how she worries about how social media impacts young women
Victoria Beckham's mother of the groom look, worn at Brooklyn Beckham's wedding, is proof, as if we needed it, that the star is clued up with the latest trends. One trend in society, however, that she cannot abide by is body-shaming and the star admitted that she worries about how it impacts all young women, including her only daughter Harper Seven Beckham.
As we live in a time where body positivity is de rigueur, Victoria Beckham's daughter Harper might find it hard to believe that her mother faced horrific body shaming in the public forum, in her earlier career.
Online trolling is sadly an ever-present issue, but speaking to Vogue Australia the star discussed how acceptable it was for the media to regularly attack her appearance. “I’ve had ‘Porky Posh’ on a headline, I’ve had ‘Skeletal Posh’," she said.
"After I had Brooklyn, there was a picture on the front of a newspaper pointing to every single part of my body as to where I had to focus on losing the weight from," said the designer. "Imagine doing that now.”
She also made reference to a now-infamous clip that a friend sent her only recently. “I went on a TV show called Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush with Chris Evans many years ago, and I’d just had Brooklyn and lost a lot of weight after."
She explained, "It happened to my mum after her pregnancies. It doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. And he made me stand on scales and be weighed. Can you imagine doing that nowadays?”
Victoria Beckham's 'odd' dietary requests may still make headlines, but the star is proud of her healthy eating and fitness regime, which includes plenty of healthy fats and keeping fit with an intense resistance training regime.
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Referencing her husband's comments on her 'disciplined' diet she added, "I’m quite extreme in anything I do. Whether it’s eating or working out or drinking or not drinking.”
However, the heartbreaking reality for the mum-of-four is that, despite comments on peoples' bodies being more policed in the media nowadays, body shaming has found a new home on social media.
Discussing her children she mentions Harper, who isn't online yet. She said, "Harper isn’t on social media, so we don’t have to worry about that just yet. But seeing how cruel people can be, yes it really does [concern me]."
The star explained that for her, as a parent, the main focus is ensuring that her family keeps their communication channels fully open, supports each other and that they surround themselves with positive friends. Despite her best efforts in protecting her family from the ravages of online trolls, she admited, "it is quite terrifying, I can’t lie."
Aoife is an Irish journalist and writer with a background in creative writing, comedy, and TV production.
Formerly woman&home's junior news editor and a contributing writer at Bustle, her words can be found in the Metro, Huffpost, Delicious, Imperica and EVOKE.
Her poetry features in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology.
Outside of work you might bump into her at a garden center, charity shop, yoga studio, lifting heavy weights, or (most likely) supping/eating some sort of delicious drink/meal.
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