THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu says she has experienced her share of "fat shaming" during her lifetime, but her instant reaction to a parody Twitter account under the name "Fatty Hajdu" was anger.
"It's no longer shame for me, because I've had many years to work through the shame of body shaming, people using my size or the way I look as a way to sort of weaponize words," Hajdu told Tbnewswatch in an interview.
The fake account appeared to have been taken down on Monday, but not before Hajdu herself drew attention to it by tweeting that "fat shaming is a common way of putting women in their place."
She said it was a way "of calling this sort for what it was, which was an attempt to use body shaming as a way to silence people."
Hajdu—the federal minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour—said social media have become an important way for Canadians to connect with each other and stay informed, but "these parody accounts often take it to the next level, which is really, truly, just personal shaming."
Ironically, her tweet about the the fake account has turned out to be the most popular tweet she's ever created.
"To me," she said, "this shows that there is just so much of an appetite to have these conversations about the way that words and actions are used to silence women."
Hajdu noted that she had read comments about her tweet from numerous former female colleagues, including one who said she stepped away from politics after being attacked in a similar way.
"That shows how far we have to go in calling this out, in standing together, and saying 'this isn't okay' ".
She said personal attacks have consequences, and if more women are to be inspired to get into politics, "we have to take a stand against this now."
Hajdu didn't complain to Twitter about the fake account, but she observed that a number of other people had planned to send in a complaint.
