Lucy Hale called herself 'fat' on Instagram, and people are not pleased

Lucy Hale posted a very touching throwback photo of herself and her father in honor of Father's Day on Sunday (June 18). Most of her caption was sweet and sentimental—"You taught me to have soul. I love you daddy"—but something she wrote in the comments hit a sour note with fans. "Ugh, I was so fat," Hale wrote under her pic. Yikes.

That's a problematic thing to say for many reasons. For one, Hale isn't overweight, so referring to herself as "fat" reinforces a troubling, warped message about body image, which is especially worrying for a star who has so many young fans. Also, writing "ugh" in the comment indicates that Hale believes being "fat" is undesirable, even derogatory. But not everyone feels that way—some people use the word to describe themselves matter-of-factly, some people view the term as describing a body type, and some people (presumably Hale) use the word to refer to their bodies when they're unhappy with how they look. That part of society—which places such a strong emphasis on thin beauty and shaming of celebrities who gain weight—is what turned "fat" into an insult.

Slowly (but surely!), we're correcting that. The body-positivity movement has opened up many people's minds to what is beautiful. Plus-size bodies are represented more in our culture than ever before, and many media outlets don't have the same fat-shaming mentalities they once did.

But comments like Hale's prove the "fat is bad" narrative is still very much a thing. Hale's followers enforced this more by writing responses like, "You don't look fat, you look beautiful," which suggest those two words are mutually exclusive. News flash: They're not.

A few of her fans knew the time, though. "I know you've got the right to say that, but just imagine what it's like for your fans who are a little bit bigger or struggling with their body to hear that from their idol who's obviously never been fat," one commenter said. "Probably not a great thing to say that this weight was 'fat,' considering how many young girls are going to read that and get upset about their bodies," wrote another.

Of course, Lucy Hale is human, and we can't discredit her insecurities—we all have them. In 2012, the actress opened up about struggling with an eating disorder and body image issues, so she's still on her journey to self-acceptance (like all of us). It's just disappointing that "fat" is still viewed negatively by so many, especially if you're in recovery. "Fat" is not a bad word.