WARNING: This post contains discussions of eating disorders.
As soon as the words came out of her mouth I felt my blood boil in a way that it never had before; “you’re too fat”. Three simple words that were said in nothing more than a joking context by a work colleague at the time.
I had never been fat-shamed before and it took all of my energy not to smack her right across the smug face or burst into tears. Not only was I furious because, as everyone knows, it’s never appropriate to joke about someone’s weight, but also because at the time I had spent the last six months in the downward spiral of an anorexia relapse.
READ: “The worst fight I’ve ever had with my parents was over how my dinner would be cooked.”
Those three words sent my undernourished brain into a tailspin. At the best of times my thoughts were all over the place and I couldn’t tell where Madelaine finished and anorexia began but, in that moment, I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach. I was frozen.
While I angrily vented to a number of people throughout the day during which I received reassurance that it wasn’t true, I couldn’t help but be furious that someone had voiced my biggest insecurity. It was like going on X Factor only to find out you are tone deaf.
Top Comments
Try being too thin!! gee your little, you're so tiny, look how thin you are.... My response? Well, yeah I guess so. At least I'm not rude.
And Janelle - "Probably didn't mean to hurt you, Didn't know you were sick." I CALL BULLSHIT. Just don't say anything you judgemental self-important asshats!!
Mind your own business and keep your rude remarks to yourself, no matter what size someone might be.
Im sorry you were hurt. As someone that permanently lives with fat shaming (and is legitimately fat) it’s not ok. However as she didn’t know that you were sick, she probably didn’t mean for it to hurt you. She clearly had no idea what you were battling or that you could tell how many calories were in something or that this was your personal insecurity. I can’t see someone making this comment, flippantly, if they knew what you were dealing with. How could she know this?
I’m guessing that the point is you should never make a comment like ‘you’re too fat’, even in a joking context, simply because you *don’t* know what people are going through in private.
Or that things can be taken the wrong way and not meant to be hurtful. I think that’s a valid way to look at it yes but I think there’s two ways to look at it