All women can’t wear crop tops? We beg to differ (Picture: Instagram)

A magazine style Q&A has said women should only dare to wear a crop top ‘if (and only if!) they have a flat stomach.’ Patronising? Yep. Bodyshaming? Definitely. Shocking? Not really.

That is, until, you realise the magazine is the monthly magazine founded by positive female role model Oprah Winfrey – ‘O, The Oprah Magazine’.

Et tu Oprah?

Writer Tamar Anitai was perusing the April issue of the magazine when she came upon a style Q&A with creative director Adam Glassman. A reader had asked ‘can I pull off a crop top?’ to which he responded: ‘If (and only if!) you have a flat stomach, feel free to try one.’




His response prompted Tamar to post on Instagram: ‘Surprised to see this level of #bodyshaming in Oprah magazine. The feature is about women feeling healthy. Part of health is self-esteem and that’s intrinsically connected to body image.’

She continued: ‘Stop telling women what they CAN’T wear. We can wear and do and be ANYTHING that makes us feel strong, powerful, passionate and in charge of our own destinies.’

‘Wear what you love, what makes you feel confident, and own it,’ she concluded.

Plus size blogger Style Sarah Conley has also written about the feature in her blog entitled, ‘Don’t let O Magazine tell you that you can’t #RockTheCrop Top.’

She wrote: ‘I was shocked to see this kind of body shaming language from any magazine, much less one named after a woman who has had her weight scrutinized throughout her career.’

She added: ‘Flat stomachs are like thigh gaps – we’re not all meant to have one. I know women who have worked out four hours a day, five days a week in pursuit of that dream only to be thwarted by genetics.’

However, to prove that anyone can wear a crop top – because it’s all about how you wear it Adam – she asked women of all shapes and sizes to post pictures of them rocking their crop tops on social media.

#RockTheCropTop is now trending.

it's ok, ur boyfriend can pull it off for me. pic.twitter.com/GQIkMEiDQo — stella (@stellaboonshoft) July 9, 2015

Sorry. Didn’t get the memo.

‘Kiss my big fat belly’.

Oh look. Horizontal stripes AND a crop top.

Tess Holliday joined in. Looking fabulous.

Sarah tweeted some of the pictures to Adam himself, who responded ‘Bravo. And fun!’

How about Oprah? Does Oprah think all women can rock a crop top?

Course she does.

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