Bringing up someone’s weight is rarely a good idea. And sure enough, not everyone appreciated when the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California recently tweeted a photo of its otter, describing it as “thicc.”
The animal in question, Abby is an 11-year-old sea otter, one of five at the facility who serve as surrogate moms to orphaned otter pups. Abby weights 46 pounds, which is one pound over the average weight of an adult female otter.
Image credits: MontereyAq
Some people started criticizing the tweet for its “appropriative language,” saying the nonprofit was inappropriately borrowing it from African American Vernacular English (AAVE) while also comparing black women to animals.
@IBJIYONGI later also added this: “I’m certain that @MontereyAq didn’t realize that they were basically comparing Black women to animals by using AAVE developed to talk about Black women’s bodies to describe an animal. But that’s pretty bad, MBA.”
Image credits: thespinsterymc
Eventually, the aquarium released a four-part apology tweet
Image credits: MontereyAq
Image credits: MontereyAq
Image credits: MontereyAq
Image credits: MontereyAq
And while some people appreciated the apology
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Most thought the otter tweet was funny and there was no need to apologize
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