A college student at the University of Toledo in Ohio is calling for better body inclusivity in a recent TikTok video of hers. In it, she shares a distasteful incident she had in class, wherein she was unable to participate due to being plus-size.
Posted by TikTok user Laysiaaaboo (Lay B), Lay released a storytime video explaining her seemingly frustrating and “embarrassing” experience in the Environmental Solutions Lab. On the day she posted her TikTok video, the class had the opportunity to go outside for what the school calls “River Day,” during which students suit up in waders.
When the time came to suit up, Lay was getting a bit worried and “praying” that they had waders in her size. The professor shares shoe sizes, but fails to mention the dimensions of everything else—legs, waist, etc. None of what was available fit her, unfortunately.
She even went so far as to try on men’s waders, with a shoe size of 14, and discovered they didn’t fit her waist. Not to mention the shoes being too big. “I’m struggling to pull the pants part up in front of everyone,” Lay says, and notes that other students were waiting on her. “It was like a wave of embarrassment, anxiety, and everything.” It also didn’t help when she noticed men in her class were “whispering and laughing” at her.
Lay gives up in defeat and tells her professor, who offers to let Lay observe from the sidelines. This only made Lay feel even more embarrassed and made Lay want to leave. “These are the issues that plus size women go through every day,” Lay says and argues no one is coming up with solutions.
To Lay, the solution is simple: accommodating plus-size students. Otherwise, it just makes students, including herself, feel ostracized, which is unhelpful given the already huge pressure college puts on students. “These are issues I should not have to deal with as a plus size woman,” Lay says.
How People Reacted to Lay’s Storytime TikTok Video
Some TikTok users argued that this was a failing of the school and offered Lay solutions to remedy the problem. One viewer wrote, “Waders come in your size for sure, they should have taken a size list in advance and ensured accommodation for everyone.” Another TikTok user, who shared they are a professor, suggested Lay “tell the department chair and/or college dean.”
Other commenters shared in her grief, several of whom were environmental scientists themselves. One environmental scientist told Lay she’d experience the same thing “countless times,” and that “these companies do not cater for women’s bodies, much less a curvy plus size body.” She explained that she has to wear “size 14 waders” in order to reach her hips, which she admits is “very uncomfortable.”
Though many viewers were supportive of Lay, some placed the blame on Lay. These ranged from telling Lay to lose weight to just going straight to fat shaming. “It’s TIME. Use it as motivation,” one commenter wrote.
Lay made a response video, calling out the nasty comments she received, calling those people “ignorant.” However, this states that, regardless of the hate she received, she’d never stop “advocating” for women who look like her.
