Many a time, it comes from people we know, people close to us, like our parents, friends, partners. How do you react to them? After all, they just want your good, right? No, it is not okay for people to reduce any person to their bodies. To make them feel that they are any lesser because they do not fit someone else’s notions of beauty.
Body shaming can start when a person is very young and can leave a deep impact on them throughout their lives.Sally Bergesen, the founder, and CEO of athletic wear company Oiselle, recently tweeted about her experience of being body shamed.
“Keep eating like that and you’re going to be a butterball,” she wrote.She then asked people to retweet her and use the hashtag #TheySaid to share their own personal experiences.
Here are the responses she received:
“Keep eating like that and you’re going to be a butterball.” My Dad when I was 12. Pls RT and share a body shaming comment. #TheySaid
— Sally Bergesen (@oiselle_sally) May 25, 2017
“If you lose weight, someone will love you” – nan #TheySaid
Haha my boyfriend loves me for who I am and I’m still the same weightpic.twitter.com/hwWCemf7tH — KitKat (@KatyMackenzie19) June 5, 2017
#theysaid “you’re so fat” i was 10. “you’re so tall, you could be a model if you lost some weight” i was 14.
— Julia Hall (@julia_ehall) June 2, 2017
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but you look SO MUCH healthier now. Props for losing all that weight” #TheySaid after I developed anorexia
— Ashley Scarlett (@ashleyyscarlett) June 1, 2017
You have such a pretty face just think if you lost weight. My dad’s favorite shaming thing to say #TheySaid
— Melissa Dufresne (@melissadufesne) May 31, 2017
You’d be really pretty if you lost weight. (Multiple people, throughout my life) #TheySaid
— KiwiKat (@Gibbermiss) June 1, 2017