Photography via Instagram.com/GigiHadid

Gigi Hadid Just Shut Down Body Shamers on Twitter

"I am still learning and growing with my body everyday, as everyone is."

Date February 13, 2018

Gigi Hadid’s been having a busy New York Fashion Week. In between walking for Prabal Gurung, Bottega Veneta and Jeremy Scott, she also took the time to challenge some of the people body-shaming her on Twitter.

Over the course of her five years in the fashion industry, she’s been the target of comments criticizing her for both being “too big” and too skinny. So what’s a girl to do? Take to Twitter and outline, in a series of tweets, details of the medical condition she’s been struggling with (plus why it’s really no one’s business), and ending with a call for more empathy on the internet.

For those of you so determined to come up w why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto’s disease; those of u who called me “too big for the industry” were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that.

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018

According to the American Thyroid Association, the disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, refers to an inflammation of the thyroid gland, and symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, depression, dry skin and muscle aches.

Over the last few years I’ve been properly medicated to help symptoms including those, as well as extreme fatigue, metabolism issues, body’s ability to retain heat, etc … I was also part of a holistic medical trial that helped my thyroid levels balance out.

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018

She added that although being “this skinny” is not something she wanted, she does feel healthier and better, and is still learning to understand her body.

Although stress & excessive travel can also affect the body, I have always eaten the same, my body just handles it differently now that my health is better. I may be “too skinny” for u, honestly this skinny isn’t what I want to be, but I feel healthier internally and (cont)

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018

(cont) am still learning and growing with my body everyday, as everyone is.

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018

No one should have to explain their physical or medical struggles to the world at large, and Hadid rounded out her Twitter thread by saying just that.

I will not further explain the way my body looks, just as anyone, with a body type that doesnt suit ur “beauty” expectation, shouldnt have to. Not to judge others, but drugs are not my thing, stop putting me in that box just because u dont understand the way my body has matured.

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018

And lastly, a call for more empathy and less judgment on social media, a strange world where people increasingly use their anonymity to hide behind negative and hurtful comments.

Please, as social media users & human beings in general, learn to have more empathy for others and know that you never really know the whole story. Use your energy to lift those that you admire rather than be cruel to those u don’t.

— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) February 11, 2018