Teen Claps Back at Girl Who Made Fun of Her for Wearing a Crop Top

Rebekah Loudermilk of Wichita, Kan., was hanging out with a friend at a local town festival, Wichita Riverfest, when she encountered a bully who made fun of her for wearing a crop top.

“I was walking with a friend while wearing a crop top, and a girl who was with her friend made it very clear that she wasn’t pleased with what I was wearing due to my weight,” Loudermilk told Yahoo Style. “She said, ‘fat girls shouldn’t be wearing crop top.’ Afterwards, I gave her a look showing that I had heard her, which caused her friend to say, ‘you know she heard you right?'”

Loudermilk, a 17-year-old recent high school graduate, decided to show the bully that her mocking words didn’t leave a mark. Lourdermilk took to Twitter to post some selfies along with an empowering message: “To the girl @ river fest making fun of me for wearing a crop top, it’s 90 degrees and you aren’t hurting my confidence nice try.”

Loudermilk’s whole attitude about the ordeal is seriously mature. “Being a confident person, I shrugged it off — [I] was being the better person,” she said.

Some of Loudermilk’s friends, however, were surprised she didn’t say something to the bully in the moment, saying that had they been in her shoes they would have spoken up. “My feelings were that I know I’m OK with my body,” Loudermilk explained. “If someone I don’t know has a problem with it, that is their issue, not mine.”

Her confidence with her body and willingness to promote self love and acceptance resonated with many Twitter users and the post quickly gained traction. Loudermilk says she just wanted her post to spread her mantra of confidence and self-love, and inspire other people to embrace their own bodies.

“It is OK to love yourself no matter your size and to know it shouldn’t affect what you wear or how confident you are,” she said. “Just because you are plus-size does not mean you will not be loved by others. I just wanted to share my confidence and self love with others so that they may begin to express the same for themselves.”

On the overwhelming reaction to the tweet, Loudermilk was incredibly surprised. “It makes me happy to see people share it — not because it is me — but it shares a positive image. I have received some negative comments because of it, but I just shrug those off and let the love outweigh the hate.”

And for anyone out there struggling with body image or body-shaming Loudermilk has a message: “You are beautiful the way you are, and you should strut yourself with confidence. Wear what you want to wear, if you are comfortable, screw what others say!”

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

• Mom Shocked to Find Son’s Class Picture Digitally Altered by Photo Company

• Snoop Dogg’s Daughter Flaunts Her Natural Hair and Opens Up About Body Acceptance

• Blogger Posts Behind-the-Scenes Image of Her Selfie: ‘There Is Nothing Sexier Than Being Real’

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