One of the perils of putting your entire life on Instagram is that you’re inviting hordes and hordes of Internet strangers to come at you with unsolicited opinions about your looks, your lifestyle, and your choice of company. And when those comments appear on an engagement photo — potentially some of the most important pictures of your life — it can really, really hurt. One woman, however, isn’t bending under the pressure and she’s got some important words for people who are “just concerned for the safety” of her fiance.
Meet Mzznaki Tetteh, a nurse from Ghana who couldn’t be happier to be getting married to the love of her life Kojo Amoah. To exhibit her happiness, Tetteh posted a selection of fairly standard engagement photos to Insta.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGDFz57OLZA
They’re all pretty much what you’d expect, with one notable exception — a photo of the soon-to-be bride being lifted up by her betrothed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGDHiSMuLcO
Pretty cute, right? You’ve got to give her props for wearing that hot pink number, which looks nice on her. And considering how sweet the rest of the photos are, you’d expect people to just wish her well and be on their way. But this is the internet, where just being all “congrats! Hope your life is a happy one!” would be way too easy. Instead, trolls began chiming in to let Tetteh know that she had a weight problem.
The comments, which ranged from “RIP that man’s spine” to “his arms are stronger than my last relationship” were both petty and unwarranted, but they reached new lows when people started commenting with “ew” and expressing “heartfelt” and “well-meaning” concern for Tetteh’s man.
“I’m not jealous or something, just concerned with the safety of the guy,” one comment reposted to Buzzfeed reads. “I mean he looks like he’s struggling.” The comment went on to allege that the poster was totally cool with “big-bodied” people, but that there’s a serious problem when one person’s weight is harming another’s physical well-being.
“What’s sad is that we’re supposed to accept people looking like this,” another commenter posted and yet another person insisted that they were happy for Tetteh but pointed out that she “needs to loss weight” (they were obviously so upset that they couldn’t get words right?” and that her size couldn’t be good for her health.
Look, it’s probably not like Tetteh forced her guy, who’s a construction worker, into taking the photo. Their nuptials probably weren’t contingent on it. And if you look at the picture above, he seems pretty darn happy lifting her up. Is it an awkward photo? Sure. But when have you seen engagement photos that don’t look weird and unnatural? Why hate on a complete stranger who’s just real excited to get married and do whatever it is that married people do (mostly eat pizza and nap)?
Fortunately, Tetteh didn’t lock her account or take down her pictures once she saw the hate start flowing in. Instead, she fought the criticism with confidence and positivity, posting more pictures and letting commenters know that their “rubbish” opinions wouldn’t be getting her down.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGFuX3SuLbS
And then Tetteh posted this awesome picture of herself and her fiance jumping for joy in matching t-shirts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGNJGgXOLfr
Anyone else upset about the happy couple’s photos can just look at this picture to see exactly how Tetteh feels about the whole thing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGFumBkOLbu
That’s some quality confidence. And it’s a great reminder that if you have nothing nice to say — especially on a stranger’s engagement photos — you should maybe just close that tab and keep your comments to yourself. Even you fake well intentioned ones. People like Tetteh are not here for any of that bullsh*t.
