Hi. You don’t know me, exactly, but you know me in theory.
I am the person you prey on. I am a new mom, a few months postpartum. I’m exhausted. I don’t have a spare minute in my day. My body is larger and jigglier than it was before but I’m reaching the point where I can’t use my recent pregnancy as an excuse. On top of everything, my son has had some health problems, making it for a very emotional, hectic past few months.
It starts innocently enough. You want me to think you care about me, by sending me a Facebook message expressing sympathy or concern or commiseration. I know what you’re up to, and I try to ignore. “You are beautiful, your body has done a great thing, you are more than your looks,” I remind myself.
The messages pick up. I continue polite non-answers, try not to engage you any further. But your exclamation marks and smiley faces continue. My three-year-old calls me a princess and declares my raggedy Mizzou t-shirt “beautiful, mommy!”
Finally, it comes. You invite me to your “accountability group,” or you tell me about some miracle face cream. The subtext is clear: you think I’m fat, you think I look tired, you want to exploit my insecurities to make a buck.
Well, guess what? I’m not going to be polite anymore.
You can take your body shaming, and shove it.
I’m curious, how do these people react when you tell them they are making you uncomfortable?
This post is ridiculous. No one is body shaming you in the name of making a dollar. They don’t think you are fat or ugly, they will just sell to anyone who will buy.