Love Island contestant Molly-Mae Hague praised for her response to body shaming comments

Like pretty much every woman on the planet, Love Island contestant and influencer Molly-Mae Hague has found herself the victim of body-shaming and objectification.

But instead of letting it get to her, she popped over to Twitter to express her baffled yet delightfully unbothered vibe about the whole thing.

The comments in question appear to have been left beneath an article which featured pictures of Hague in a bikini.

Twitter user @ellakingsleyx posted a screenshot, calling the comments "vile", in what is something of an understatement.

Hague herself agreed, quote-tweeting the post, saying that it's "beyond her" why anyone would post such comments. Yep, us too.

People were quick to praise Hague for speaking out on this, and share her frustration at the comments themselves.

Fellow influencers Em Sheldon and Freddy Cousin-Brown were among those sharing their support.

It also sparked discussion around the impact of Instagram and the ubiquity of edited pictures, given the backlash women seem to face for looking like real, normal human beings.

While in recent years we've seen a boom in conversations around body positivity and body neutrality, the influencer space – especially on Instagram – is overwhelmingly populated by women whose bodies conform to traditional standards of beauty.

Although body shaming doesn't exclusively affect women, statistics show that they are the most impacted, and from a shockingly early age. By the time they reach teenage years, 94 per cent of girls will have been body shamed, compared to 65 per cent of boys.

For women in the public eye in particular, the "keyboard warrior" effect can make this seemingly unavoidable.

These types of body-shaming comments don't only affect the women they're aimed at either – young girls may read the comments and internalise a damaging perception of what bodies *should* look like.

A gentle reminder for anyone who's forgotten: bodies come in all shapes and sizes and they should all be equally respected.

It's never acceptable to judge a woman by her appearance. We're glad Molly-Mae Hague agrees.