Mum Hits Back After Trolls Say Her Dress Was 'Indecent' For Son's 7th Birthday Party
A woman has defended herself against trolls who criticised her for an 'indecent' dress to her son's seventh birthday party.
Raquel Dicuru, from Tonbridge, Kent, was throwing a celebration for her son Alex* on 18 June when her sister-in-law filmed her lighting the candles on the birthday cake.
It wasn't until when the 37-year-old was watching the video back that she realised her 'boobies' were prominently featured in the purple flower sundress she wore.
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The mum-of-two, who works as an assistant ability consultant, thought the video was hilarious and she shared it on TikTok with the ironic caption: 'When you didn't realise your boobies were stealing the spotlight at your son's birthday party until you saw pics and vid later that evening!'.
However the joke went over the heads of some TikTok users. After racking up more than one million views, Raquel's video and the tongue-in-cheek caption has sparked backlash from many viewers, with some claiming that Raquel was trying to 'find a husband' and branding her 'indecent'.
"My sister-in-law was the one who filmed the video. She didn't even notice until she sent me the video and I said 'Oh my god! My boobies are right there," Raquel explains.
"Normally, I would be just adjusting my clothing all the time. But that dress was quite comfy so I wasn't.
"I think it's mostly down to the angle of the video. She was filming from above and I was crouching down a little bit.
"We were all just living in the moment and singing happy birthday to my son. So I just thought it was funny that we were all unaware.
Raquel said some of the comments she received came to the conclusion that her caption purposely drew attention to her cleavage. She also got numerous comments from people who took issue with her decision to wear the low-cut dress.
"The majority of comments were people getting upset about the video.
"The main issue seemed to be that I was being 'indecent' for wearing that type of dress and that I was posting the video for attention.
"People were angry, they thought it was outrageous. They were questioning what sort of person I was, if I was looking for a husband. I'm happily married and not looking for anybody.
"The comments were mainly from men. I also had people defending me though, telling trolls to 'lighten up'."
Raquel was forced to delete the 'nasty' comments from her page and said a large number of the troll comments came from men who argued that she was trying to lure the attention of dads at the birthday party.
"Men were commenting stuff like 'Women know what they're doing' and 'Women always do this for attention'. It was as if I was being blamed for having something on show.
"It just sounds like they've had bad experiences with women and they're putting me into this category of 'She wants the dads to look at her, she just wants attention'.
"They were saying I was making it all about me rather than my son. Someone said the fact I posted the video was 'sick'. It's just weird - why are people so angry? They're just boobs."
In follow-up videos responding to hate comments, Raquel told her critics to 'get a life' and posed up in the dress again to push for an explanation about why her outfit was 'offensive'.
Raquel said: "Deep down, the harsh comments did make me question what I wear. But then I thought 'No, they're the ones who have a problem with it'.
"It's funny how people are angry at skin. Half of the world has boobs - I don't know why it's so taboo.
"It was a hot day at the start of June. I was wearing something comfortable for a picnic in the park."
The troll comments have not made Raquel throw away her sundresses, however, and she is now calling for people to stop shaming others for the clothes they wear.
Raquel said: "This hasn't put me off wearing the sundress. I'm not indecent - I like to dress nice for the body that I have.
"Nobody should be shaming me or anybody else for what we wear or what we want to show.
"I'm just showing a bit of boob or a bit of a leg. It's hot - I don't have to cover up so that other people can be comfortable."
*Real name changed on request.