I was fired for posing naked online – trolls come after me but I don’t care if my wobbly bits offend you
LOU Featherstone thinks nothing of stripping off and posting photos of her naked body online – despite being shamed by cruel trolls regularly telling her to ‘put it away’ because of her age.
This is because the 52-year-old is determined to “age disgracefully” and loves to bare all for the camera to show getting older isn’t all doom and gloom.
In fact, it’s only in later life the former family support worker has been confident enough about her body to pose without her clothes.
Speaking to Fabulous for We’ve Been Shamed, our exclusive new series, Lou, from Brighton, says: “Posting naked photos online isn’t for everyone, but I’m trying to show women ageing can be exciting, we should embrace ourselves and we can grow old disgracefully too!
“I’m proud of my body, so why not? Of course ageing is not all brilliant – your skin develops wrinkles and I’m not a fan of my boobs, but I go to the gym and look after myself.
“I’ve had negative comments from people, telling me to ‘put it away’ and saying ‘no one wants to see that’, but I don’t care.
“Everyone thinks if you put yourself out there, they have the right to make judgement on you.
“But we’re a long time dead and we spend so much time trying to get to the grave safely! Life is for living so f*** it – I plan to do it disgracefully!”
The vicar’s daughter
Lou wasn’t always so body confident. She had a happy childhood, and grew up travelling around the UK to wherever her vicar father was sent – but moving around meant she often felt unsettled.
She says: “Growing up I wasn’t particularly confident – I think I really did find confidence in later life.
“As a vicar’s daughter, I was kept on a very tight leash so it was hard to find my own personality.
“I was always very loud, which people often mistook for confidence but deep down I had a lot of insecurities.”
‘I hid behind loud clothes’
For years Lou – who met her advertising executive ex-husband in 1999 and has one son Oscar, 19 – opted to hide her insecurities behind loud, eye-catching outfits.
This meant she developed a shopping addiction – which she hid from her family.
She says: “I was used to constantly reinventing myself, and loved wearing bold outfits.
“I was always the life and soul of the party, but also hid behind loud clothes because that was a way of being able to express myself and conceal my insecurities.”
The turning point
By the time she was in her late thirties however, she found herself in £20k debt.
She says: “By the time I was 41 I was so sick of myself and all the credit card debts and secrets, so I gave up shopping for a year.
“I wanted to get my finances under control, but actually it became much more than that.
“That year I started running and discovered fitness – it meant for the first time I felt proud of my body and actually felt genuinely confident.”
It was then Lou first began her own blog, and started posting photos of her outfit every day.
Naked on a mountain
Finally feeling confident in her own skin, in 2018 Lou decided to to take it a step further – and post a naked snap on Instagram revealing her bum.
She says: “We lived in America and I set up a hiking group of women – we’d march to the top of mountains and felt so empowered by each other.
“One day we got to the top of a mountain and I decided to strip off and posted a photo flashing my naked bum online.
“The photo was literally me naked on a mountain. It was the first time I’d ever done anything like that and it was so liberating.”
‘What did you expect?’
Lou isn’t the only woman in her fifties embracing their body, with a whole host of celebrities choosing to flaunt their fabulous figures and strip off online, from Elizabeth Hurley, 57, to Amanda Holden, 52.
However, despite being showered with compliments, not everyone was a fan of Lou’s decision to strip off online.
She says: “A whole series of events then unfurled after that – it actually got me fired from my job at a school as a PE coach as they said there were concerns raised by parents, and a 26-year-old man at the gym thought it was appropriate to send me a d*** pic.
“When I mentioned it to a woman I knew she just said somewhat judgementally, ‘well, what did you expect?’
“That blew my mind, that another woman would think that, just because I’d posted a naked photo.”
‘I finally found my confidence’
Despite some negativity, Lou realised she’d finally become comfortable with her body, and came to view ageing and change – including the menopause – as a positive thing.
Separating from her husband in lockdown also impacted Lou’s outlook.
She says: “Nothing dreadful happened, we didn’t hate each other or anything, we just grew apart and around that time I started to really find my confidence.
“I’d spent 20 years put my husband first, and my son, which was my decision and I have no regrets, but as I got older, I realised it was my opportunity to put myself first.”
‘I do get hate’
Lou has a such a supportive online community, but admits she is subjected to negativity all the time on social media too.
She says: “I do get hate – I had to come off TikTok because of the trolls. It was horrible, and I also had my account deactivated before that, for flashing my a***.
“When I posted a naked photo posing on the white cliffs of Dover someone commented saying ‘Jesus, put it away, no one wants to see that’ with a throwing up emoji, and I’ve had comments saying how old I look, with some saying I must be ‘at least 70’ and commenting on my body.
“The odd one will get to me but you just get to an age where you just start to give slightly less f***s, which is great!
“I’m proud of my body, wobbly bits and all, and just don’t listen to the haters.”
‘Ageing doesn’t mean doom & gloom’
Lou now has over 63k Instagram followers on her account @Luinluland.
She says: “Getting older is a trend now, and I was so excited when I turned 50!
“So many young people follow me, and on my channels I talk a lot about self love, masturbation and sex.
“I want to show ageing doesn’t have to mean doom and gloom, and it can be an exciting time.”
‘I’m unapologetically me’
Now, Lou gives talks and uses her influence to encourage conversations around sex and masturbation.
She says: “I was worried about what my vicar dad would think, but actually now he gives out my sex toy discount code to his friends!
“Initially my son was mortified and when Sex Education came out on Netflix he said I was Gillian Anderson’s character.
“However he’s now so supportive and proud.
“I’ve found more joy and confidence putting myself out there and wearing outrageous clothes and stripping off.
“I’m unapologetically me and that’s the biggest act of rebellion I can give the world!”