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50 Women Share The Ways They Were Body-Shamed And It’s Just Too Horrible To Read
Sally Bergensen is the CEO of Oiselle, a Seattle-based athletic apparel company by women, for women. She recently took to Twitter to share a body-shaming story from her childhood that, despite taking place when she was just a twelve-year-old teenage girl, is clearly something she's never forgotten.
"Keep eating like that, and you're going to be a butterball," her father had said to her, and now she's encouraging other women to share their experiences of being body image shamed by using the hashtag #TheySaid. And as you can see below, many women were quick to come forward with their own stories of friends, family, and sometimes total strangers making hurtful comments about their body type, size, or being way off the line of beauty standards. The hashtag has even spawned a sister hashtag called #SheReplied, which people are using to share ways to respond to the next person who says something unpleasant about the female body. Scroll down to see some of the responses to uncalled for public shaming so far.
More info: Twitter
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#1
Renáta Dezsőfi 7 years ago
they should say 'for the girls water for the boys water too'... why do people poison their kids at such a young age? no wonder why they are getting bigger if their parents are supporting an unhealthy lifestyle..
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#6
Sierra Hall 7 years ago
Keep it up! People are ridiculous. They should never shame someone for trying to be active and healthy!
#7
ItsPam Duh 7 years ago
I'm so sorry. I am on antidepressants that have caused weight gain and I have experienced such negative feed back. People can be cruel.
#8
Lara B. 7 years ago
Body shaming from a different perspective. After a nasty break-up in December i started suffering from depression and just stopped eating. I was down to 44kg in no time and people kept telling me how awful i looked. I knew that it looked terrible, but no need to keep f*cking telling me that all the time. That really hurts. Now I am getting better each day :)
#9
Mimis Nachbarin 7 years ago
Since when do boys not want fat girls?!? Maybe not all of them, but still a lot of them. Your mom would be surprised...
#14
Anastasia B 7 years ago
Same thing happened to me... I was 15 and it was my aunt. I never wanted to be a model anyway but why say such a mean thing?
#16
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
I get that nonsense from time to time. Guess what? I'm 54. I plan on doing whatever I want for the rest of my life and I need muscle and bone mass to do it.
#21
Pol Macqueron 7 years ago
It makes no sense: at 13 yo, she's responsible for you and moreover she's supposed to be supporting you and love you no matter what
#22
#24
Flora Polvado 7 years ago
Honestly, I would kind of expect this from a thoughtless jerk of a teen sibling, it's the parents that make me see red!
#25
Rhân 7 years ago
Yeah, some doctors should change their job. I really don't get it. Okay, if someone really has an unhealthy body, especially as a doctor you should be honest and help your patient. But this argumentation makes no sense and is just rude. Also if mental issues aren't your field of work, you should be careful with words. (Not only because weight gain could be a side effect of depression)
#28
M O'Connell 7 years ago
I knew a girl in college who was a power-lifter. If you didn't know that, an a*****e would assume she was overweight. I think she was about 240lbs of muscle.
#31
Lakia Hawkins 7 years ago
OMG sooo sad, reminds me of when I was 13 and my friend told me guys that date fat girls only date them for 1 thing...yes and she was supposed to be my best friend, funny thing was I wasn't even fat at the time as I look back at pics I looked great, sometime a persons motives can be jealousy as well.
#32
Lakia Hawkins 7 years ago
That has to be the most horrible thing someone could say to their child :-(
#33
Sherlock Holmes 7 years ago
A three year old?? A three year old NEEDS some chub - they're growing very quickly! A skinny toddler is a sick toddler most of the time!
#34
#35
Yasmin Piontek 7 years ago
Why would he look at 10 y/o girls' thighs in soccer shorts, huh? But srsly, such a jerk
#38
#39
jo_shortland 7 years ago
I could never out on weight before I had my daughter and used to get a lot of comments too which are very hurtful "you are too bony" "Ooo careful you might snap a leg" but it's not your fault
#40
Leoninus Fate 7 years ago
this is so sad, My brother does this to our sister, she has the same problems but diff background as me, our brother lost tons of weight after getting all his med problems fixed, we haven't, our sister has the opposite of me {im under, she's over} and our brother calls her whale, bakery, fat, chub chub, and other words, she's 28 and 200 pounds, he is 24 and weighs 160 pounds with me at 29 at 120 pounds, our brother even got on tv for losing his wight.....{i guess pm or message me if you want that link}
#42
Mimis Nachbarin 7 years ago
I am sorry, but this is the most idiotic, wrong, mean and simply absurdest thing I ever heard a mother saying to her daughter. Seriously.
#43
Kim Lorton 7 years ago
So, like someone pointed out so accurately above this post, they are supposed to be taking care of you! So, if they think this, and all those other nasty thoughts, why not say these things instead... let's all take a walk after dinner, it's such a nice night! Hey let's go to the beach and play frisbee before the sunset! You know, daughter, I've put on some weight. I think I need a walk, would you take one with me and keep me company? We could walk the dog together, how about that?
#45
Bag Of Donuts 7 years ago
I know this one. The sister of my ex boyfriend told him I looked better when I've been a bit skinnier and with Make up.
#46
#47
Lila Pratt 7 years ago
I have very big calves too. I didn't mind until someone pointed out that I looked like a weight lifter. It made me feel bad about it for a while then I decided to just love them just the way they are. They make me look strong, they have a nice shape, and they make me win races! Too bad for the skinny jeans!
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Hans 7 years ago
If find the "family advise" particularly appalling. Failing to teach your children the merits of sports and how to cook healthy, nutritions food, probably even serving them unhealthy food when they were young, but then making comments about the weight is disgusting. Undoubtedly, parents ought to be critical when their children have an unhealthy livestyle. But, as other posters also underlined, being a critical advisor means supporting rather than shaming.
Flora Polvado 7 years ago
Exactly. How hard can it be to quietly and privately say, "I'm concerned, your weight doesn't seem healthy, how can I help?"
Load More Replies... Sierra Hall 7 years ago
It's horrible to see that the ones that are supposed to be there for support are the ones tearing them down. This won't motivate anyone to become healthier, quite the opposite. It will make them try to lose weight in unhealthy ways. My mother has never called me fat, even when I was. She would wake up every morning and tell me how beautiful I was and to never let anyone make me feel otherwise. If I wanted to lose weight, she said "OK, I'll help you but know that I think you are beautiful the way you are." I believe my mom will be getting a big hug today. I will continue that tradition with my daughter, she's 4. I tell her how beautiful, smart, and kind she is everyday. It's my job as a parent to be the comfort my child needs in a horrible, judgmental world.
Flora Polvado 7 years ago
My mom had an untreated mental illness and often said hurtful things, but never once did she body shame me. Passing on body positivity
Load More Replies...
Iris Omri-Engler 7 years ago
The most painful for me is to read such kind of statements from the own parents and relatives. There are so many reasons one can have overweight and instead to bully everybody some people should better turn on the brain and give support if they know the person or at least keep silent.
Hans 7 years ago
If find the "family advise" particularly appalling. Failing to teach your children the merits of sports and how to cook healthy, nutritions food, probably even serving them unhealthy food when they were young, but then making comments about the weight is disgusting. Undoubtedly, parents ought to be critical when their children have an unhealthy livestyle. But, as other posters also underlined, being a critical advisor means supporting rather than shaming.
Flora Polvado 7 years ago
Exactly. How hard can it be to quietly and privately say, "I'm concerned, your weight doesn't seem healthy, how can I help?"
Load More Replies... Sierra Hall 7 years ago
It's horrible to see that the ones that are supposed to be there for support are the ones tearing them down. This won't motivate anyone to become healthier, quite the opposite. It will make them try to lose weight in unhealthy ways. My mother has never called me fat, even when I was. She would wake up every morning and tell me how beautiful I was and to never let anyone make me feel otherwise. If I wanted to lose weight, she said "OK, I'll help you but know that I think you are beautiful the way you are." I believe my mom will be getting a big hug today. I will continue that tradition with my daughter, she's 4. I tell her how beautiful, smart, and kind she is everyday. It's my job as a parent to be the comfort my child needs in a horrible, judgmental world.
Flora Polvado 7 years ago
My mom had an untreated mental illness and often said hurtful things, but never once did she body shame me. Passing on body positivity
Load More Replies... Iris Omri-Engler 7 years ago
The most painful for me is to read such kind of statements from the own parents and relatives. There are so many reasons one can have overweight and instead to bully everybody some people should better turn on the brain and give support if they know the person or at least keep silent.
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