Anele Mdoda

Anele Mdoda body shamed on Twitter

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Barely a week has passed since television personality and radio deejay, Anele Mdoda appeared on Twitter trends list. The talk show hostess of The Buzz (Honey TV) once again trended on Twitter yesterday.

Why Anele Mdoda is trending

Last week, Anele Mdoda was the leading topic on South African Twitter on the back of a post sent from American RnB artist, Kelly Rowland’s verified account. Late on Wednesday, Kelly Rowland (full name Kelendria Trene Rowland) posted three stunning pictures of herself in a tan swimsuit. It has to be said that motherhood has done nothing to diminish the former Destiny’s Child singer’s physique.

By morning, South African time, Kelly Rowland’s bikini pictures had been reposted next to one of Anele Mdoda in an almost identical bikini taken in a promotional tweet. At this point the Anele body shaming began.

Does Kelly have beef with Anele?

We entered Kelly Rowland’s Twitter handle into the Twitter search field together with the name Anele Mdoda. We can confirm that Kelly Rowland has never once mentioned the Eastern Cape born television personality. Kelly’s bikini pictures (almost identical) were posted a day after Anele’s photos, giving rise to jokes about Kelly being out to get our girl. So why does Anele Mdoda trend following every Kelly Rowland picture update?

Anele Mdoda last year came under severe criticism when she stated that Kelly Rowland was only pretty with makeup on. She also went on to say Kelly was not prettier than the Destiny’s Child lead singer, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Pressured by Twitter users to apologize, Anele Mdoda, who is known for her strong opinions, did not budge.

I personally think Anele spoke out of turn, especially for a woman in a position of influence; if she sneezes onto her Twitter account, one and a half million followers catch a cold. For centuries, women have wanted to be judged for their minds, for anything other than their physical looks. Anele Mdoda is entitled to her opinion on public figures. But her opinion was an attack on another woman’s looks – the very thing that gender justice activists speak against.

The body shaming of Anele is beyond despicable and proves the notion that when a woman is less than  the magazine version of physical perfection she can never comment on the subject of beauty – even when Anele Mdoda was appointed Miss SA 2020 judge, her inclusion on the panel was ridiculed. Apparently you have to look like a young Cynthia Shange before you can speak on the subject of beauty but every weekend, clumsy, overweight men sit in taverns arguing about football even though they can’t lift a leg. So why does Anele Mdoda have to look like Zozi Tunzi in order to have a say in matters about beauty? But then again, how does one defend a woman who pulled down another female for not being “pretty?”

Till the next hot Twitter trend, my pen is capped

Follow the writer on Twitter @RewindMzansi

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