An Australian teenager has served up the perfect riposte to YouTube trolls who left messages telling her to “make me a sandwich” after she shared details of her exploits as an adventurer.
Jade Hameister gave a TEDx Talk about her expedition to the North Pole, seeking to inspire other girls to think beyond the boundaries of gender expectations and stereotypes.
However, the 16-year-old was then attacked by trolls who posted sexist jibes in the comments section on the YouTube page for her talk.
One said: “Good on you sweetie, maybe could find a successful husband and make him a sandwich.”
Setting out for the South Pole on her next expedition, Ms Hameister planned in an extra stop to deliver a withering putdown.
She reached the South Pole on 10 January, completing the polar hat trick of visiting both poles and crossing the Greenland ice sheet.
At end of her trek, she made a ham and cheese sandwich and uploaded a picture of it, adding: “Now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it”.
Posting on Facebook after accomplishing the feat, she said: “My guide, Eric Philips said this was the toughest trip in terms of weather conditions in his 25 years of polar guiding.
“The wind and extreme cold was relentless and brutal. So many stories, so many memories.
“I cannot thank the incredibly fun team I shared this journey with enough and everyone back home for your support. Here’s to a hot shower and some real food!”
In her TEDx address, in 2016, Jade said: “As a young woman I live in a world where I am constantly bombarded with messages to be less. To eat less, to wear less, to be skinnier, to shrink my ambitions to fit in.
“To wait for my Prince Charming to come and save me or to avoid activities that are ‘for boys’.
“I have learned that all those messages I receive daily to be less, are wrong. I have learned that by expanding my dreams it has been impossible to think about shrinking.
“Instead of focussing on how we look, let’s focus on what our bodies and our minds can do.”
