I think we should consider this the way we would any other form of hurting people. So long as you don’t have to, it’s wrong to do so. I agree that we shouldn’t body shame and I question the need to do so even in this instance, but I have to acknowledge that those on the right do not respond to reason or appeals to their better nature. If by mocking them we can hurt their ego enough that they start acting better to stop the mocking and that stops them from literally killing people then by calling them ‘short’ we saved lives. War is messy business and I’d much rather hurt someone’s ego and cause the societal harm of normalizing shaming about body type than have to kill somebody.

I’ll reiterate that body shaming is an ugly thing and the only way to justify it is as the lesser of two evils. We have to hate fascists openly and unabashedly. They have to know that all the social niceties we give to tolerant people cannot apply to them.

Body acceptance is a form of tolerance and tolerance is a social contract. It’s dangerous to body shame but not more dangerous than tolerating the intolerant.