University student Emily Willson had planned to mark the end of her exams with a fun night out.
Having spent the evening enjoying pre-drinks and ‘glamming up’ for the occasion, Willson and her friends decided to go clubbing.
When she finally reached the front of the queue for the establishment, the 21-year-old handed over her ID — only to be told it was invalid.
The explanation given to her by the bouncer was breathtakingly awful: “You’re too fat to be the same person as in your picture.”
Writing for UK student publication The Tab, Willson said she went on to explain to the bouncer that she was indeed “overweight” compared to her “painfully thin” ID photo, which was taken when she was battling with an eating disorder.
The humiliation continued when another bouncer joined the conversation to find out what the commotion was.
“He asks for me to show them my phone and go on my Instagram to prove I was who I said it was,” Willson, who studied broadcast journalism at the University of Leeds, explained.
“What made it even worse is they then both commented on all my photos, both ‘fat’ and ‘thin’, eventually concluding that I looked ‘skeletal’ and ‘ugly’ when I was slim too.”
Sadly, this wasn’t the first time Willson had been shamed for her weight — she’d previously encountered judgement from “trolls on Instagram” and in nasty comments made behind her back.
Watch: Meghan Ramsay on the effects of poor body image. (Post continues after video.)
Even one of her closest friends from uni had made a cruel throwaway remark about a dress she was wearing one day. “Their exact words were, ‘That’s one of the only dresses that looks nice on you, it must be so hard looking ‘chubby’ in all your clothes now’,” she recalled.
“When I responded with a look of pure shock my friend continued, ‘Don’t get me wrong, you looked awful skinny too. I wouldn’t have been friends with you if I knew you then.'”
This kind of behaviour is horrendous, yet unfortunately it’s an all-too-common phenomenon.
As Willson explained, we live in a society where people feel entited to judge others based on how they look — and she’s had enough of it.
“Body shaming is the very reason that I have zero confidence in myself … It’s probably the reason that I and so many others have had eating disorders and generally hated ourselves at times,” her Tab article stated. (Post continues after video.)
Celebrities who have responded to body shaming.
“I’ve been dangerously underweight, to a ‘normal’ size, to now what is classed as ‘fat’. Yet I’ve never been happy… I can guarantee the passing comments made by people that may not meant to harm has also caused a major impact.”
Have you ever experienced body shaming?
Featured image: Twitter/@emilywillsonx.
Top Comments
Yeah I don't think the body weight is the problem, I think the problem is the clubs she goes to and the 'friends' she hangs out with.
Reminds me of the time I went through Customs at LAX when I was 16. My passport photo was taken about 4 years earlier. The lady said to me "Is this you?" I said "Yes, why" and she said "But you're very pretty now". I didn't know whether that was a compliment or a dig at me.