Grace Baldwin: Body-shaming is out. Keeping your unsolicited thoughts to yourself is in.

Tennis player Destanee Aiava was body shamed by an internet troll. All he did was prove he has the IQ of the room temperature.

Destanee Aiava is a professional athlete in peak physical condition, and she got body shamed. If that’s the standard, there’s no hope for the rest of us. Picture: Mark Stewart

In a world full of uncertainty, there are some things that can always be relied on.

The sun will rise, the leaves will turn, and men will make unsolicited comments about women’s bodies.

On Wednesday, tennis player Destanee Aiava, 24, was subjected to grotesque comments about her physique from someone who probably wheezes going up stairs.

It’s diabolical really, that the worst diatribe always seems to come from mouth-breathing couch critics who are strangers to personal hygiene.

What was said about Aiava is not important – it’s the fact that someone felt free to say it in the first place.

Female athletes are constantly on the receiving end of vitriol, in a way that must be exhausting, deeply hurtful and doubt-inducing. Picture: Michael Klein

Female athletes are constantly on the receiving end of vitriol, in a way that must be exhausting, deeply hurtful and doubt-inducing.

The most aggravating part is the relentless subscription to the idea that there is only one type of healthy female body – despite the mountains of evidence proving otherwise.

Different sports sculpt different athletic bodies, each of them powerful and unique.

Ilona Maher, for example, is an American rugby union player who has been harassed, threatened and bullied because of her appearance. She is an outstandingly fit Olympic athlete, but apparently none of that matters because she doesn’t fit into the sample size at Kookai.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Australian Ballet was recently forced to hit back at critics who said their dancers were too thin and sickly.

There’s no winning.

Different sports sculpt different athletic bodies, each of them powerful and unique. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Depressingly, the reality is that there are people who would rather chew on a denim jacket that keep their thoughts to themselves, no matter how nugatory their opinions.

The internet emboldens a certain type of person to share their unsolicited thoughts, particularly if they don’t have many friends in the real world.

It’s a problem of loneliness, if nothing else. It’s symptomatic of someone being completely out of touch with positive human interaction.

We need to make 2025 the year of mastering the ‘inside voice’ – in other words, let’s bring back thinking before talking or posting.

Ask yourself, is this something I would say to their face? Is it something I would like said about me? Do I actually believe this, or am I just jealous, tired or angry?

Passing comments about people’s bodies – especially if they’re professional athletes – only goes to show that you boast the IQ of the room temperature.

To take a leaf out of the Premier’s recent lexicon – just don’t be a dickhead.

Originally published as Grace Baldwin: Body-shaming is out. Keeping your unsolicited thoughts to yourself is in.