As I checked Twitter before I went to bed last night, I was royally horrified to see a large proportion of people in my feed had dedicated their evening to having a crack at Bec Hewitt’s fake tan.

Like this.

Did Bec Hewitt overdo the tanning? Lleyton’s wife courts attention at Australian Open | BB&BB News pic.twitter.com/plEIfOJ9BK

— Ronald Baker (@12kelloggs12) January 14, 2014

And this.

Shit house.

I felt the need to gather Bec up in a loving embrace (not in a creepy way, but more in a Madge from Neighbours matronly way) and shield her from the bitch face molls on Twitter.

Lleyton was playing his first round Australian Open tennis match against Italian Andreas Seppi, which he eventually lost. Not that anyone was really focused on that. It would appear a lot of people were busying themselves with the shade of tan Bec had selected.

COME ON YOU GUYS!

The woman has 45 children and is just there trying to support her husband.

God KNOWS it is hard to achieve a decent tan with kids running around!

Who has time to exfoliate AND moisture the dry areas? Not fucking me! I have all but given up the pursuit of bronzed skin because whenever I try to apply fake tan, my children will inevitably traipse their grubby little fingers all over me. I usually end up with a cheetah like effect when the tan develops 6-8 hours later.

Judging a woman’s outfit is one thing, at least she can take it off at the end of the day. Critiquing someones skin colour is just mean, I’m going to go ahead and call it tanist. Yes, I totally did.

This is TAN SHAMNG everyone!

Seriously though, imagine if that were you?

Imagine if you’d got home from watching your other half work for 4 and a half hours in 10000 degree heat. You do the bedtime stories, teeth brushing and finally get the children to bed. You make yourself a cup of tea and sit down on the couch to then flicked open the computer and find your tanning choices had become several news stories and a trending topic on twitter.

Gross.

I’m pretty sure Bec just wanted to look nice.

She knew she was going to be on the telly and just wanted to look her best.

Only day earlier, one of those women’s magazines who shall remain nameless printed this about Bec’s appearance at the Brisbane International:

“The usually glam and tanned former soap star looked gaunt and drawn, nervously playing with her phone and fidgeting throughout her husband’s match.”

Bloody hell.

No wonder she felt the need to spruce up a bit!

I’m not really sure who I am directing this particular rant at, perhaps the reporter at the news web site who wrote the article. The people I follow on Twitter who felt the need to post the tweets in the first place. Humanity in general?

This shit is just mean and hurtful.

To Bec if you are reading this – I get it. I know how hard it is to look the right way so as not to attract too much attention but just enough that you are keeping up appearances. I know (as do most mothers) how hard it is to look after yourself with small people demanding your time and attention. If I were judged on how I looked every time I left the house I probably wouldn’t leave the house. Seriously, you should see some of the clothing I put on my body. I am sorry if you felt sad when you went to bed last night. I think you looked lovely, I didn’t have a problem with your complexion at all.

I’ve got you Bec, I’ve got you.

Do you think it’s okay to ever comment on someone else’s appearance? What do you think about the reaction to Bec Hewitt’s tan?