Pregnant news anchor fires back at body-shaming viewer
"Your words have such power. Use them for good."
![Laura Warren, a pregnant news anchor from Augusta, Georgia, struck back after being body shamed by a viewer.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Lifestyle/HT-Pregnant-News-Anchor-MEM-170712_v2x1_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600)
— -- A pregnant news anchor body-shamed by a viewer is firing back.
Laura Warren, a 27-year-old reporter in Augusta, Georgia, is expecting her first child. But a happy occasion was marred by a body-shaming viewer who left her a voicemail criticizing her appearance.
Warren posted the voicemail to her blog. The caller says:
"Please go to Target and buy some decent maternity clothes so you don't walk around looking like you got a watermelon strapped under your too tight outfits. Target's got a great line of maternity clothes in case you've never heard of such a thing. You're getting to where you're being disgusting on the TV."
Warren responded in a lengthy blog post, writing, "Do I really look disgusting? What outfit is she talking about? Why did she call on Friday, I wasn't even working Friday....did she boil over this all week and wait until I was off to leave me a voicemail? Oh crap, am I tearing up at my desk? NOT here. And, NOT over this. This lady doesn't deserve to get a rise out of me. Does she know that I'm wearing maternity clothes? What does she want me to wear, a moo moo from the 50's? Does she know this is 2017? WHY DID SHE CALL ME?! And, why can I not stop thinking about this?!"
Though Warren was initially very upset about the voicemail, she's now looking toward the positive.
"The majority of people have said, 'Don't give that woman a second thought, and keep on being you.' And, they're right," she told ABC News. "But, part of the reason I wrote that blog is to get a discussion going about how easy it is for us all to hang on and dwell on that one negative comment, instead of a whole sea of positive ones."
The voicemail stung so much that Warren went to her station's archives to review each and every one of her outfits to try and figure out which one could have possibly been seen as offensive. There were none as far as she could tell.
She told ABC News, "I think the reason I've received such kind feedback is because it struck a nerve with so many women who have felt these same insecurities. And, not just women. Husbands, fathers, friends, and family of women who have been pregnant and received some sort of criticism about their looks."
As for Warren, she said she has no plans to change up her fashion as a result of the criticism."I wanted this [the blog post]to be a reminder that your words have such power," she said. "Use them for good."