Just days ago, Mady Gosselin clapped back at COVID-shamers who mistakenly thought that she was reckless.
The haters piled on, and now she’s asking people who are "old" and "mean" to just unfollow her already.
As we covered yesterday, 19-year-old Mady Gosselin posted this public bathroom selfie.
Though she included an edit explaining that yes, she’s wearing a mask but put it to the side in the empty room, that was not enough.
Instead of simply trusting that possibly she might have enough common sense to not be reckless, people commented.
People pointed out that the virus can circulate in the air in public restrooms even if no one else is present.
This is true!
But, as Mady explains, this is the bathroom where she lives. This isn’t a random bathroom at Target.
This was not a malicious comment to which she replied, but Mady had not planned to reveal her location, for obvious safety reasons.
Anyone who has attended that school (Syracuse) might recognize the bathroom.
When you’re in college, some bathrooms are more memorable than others (we’ll leave it at that), and now it’s easier for people to find out where she lives.
While that comment may not have been malicious, others were. Their trolling was misdirected.
COVID-shaming has its place … but it should only apply when you know that someone is making poor choices and putting people in danger.
Posing for a photo in your own residence is not the same, and Mady should not have to detail the picture’s context to avoid harassment.
Mady uploaded a 7-second video to TikTok to express herself after being bombarded with misplaced shaming.
"I wish all of the old people who don’t have anything nice to say would unfollow me on Instagram!" she declares.
The video is short, sweet, and to the point. It also makes us really miss Vine.
In another recent post, she did her own take on the "think you can hurt my feelings?" meme.
"Grown adults on the internet have thought it was there business to comment on every facet of my personality, appearance, and life choices since I was a child," she writes.
Mady then comments: "You can’t say something I haven’t already heard."
"No longer allowing men to perpetuate the stereotype that women are mean and catty because things like this happen," Mady captioned another video.
In this one, she and her friends are masked and shopping at Target, and still glowing from receiving a shouted compliment from another woman.
Compliments on one’s looks are all too rare for those of us living in lockdown these days, so they can leave you walking on sunshine for the rest of the day.
It is heartbreaking that people would spend their time being pointlessly cruel to Mady in her Instagram comments.
Unlike her parents, she never chose to be famous. She simply is.
She has every right to go about her life and, yes, document it on social media like everyone else.
Some of Mady’s defenders on Instagram were just as misguided as her critics, telling others that "mask-wearing isn’t a law, so buzz off!" and things like that.
Folks, the issue is that Mady did have a mask and was being extremely reasonably safe in snapping her selfie.
We can all call out anyone who is endangering others during this pandemic. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about a random Instagram selfie from a responsible, level-headed young woman.