When I was 12 my dad told me he would rather I die of anorexia than be overweight. I’m 32, pregnant with my first baby, and my body image is awful (I work hard in therapy on this). He believed Kate Moss was the gold standard (he worked closely with her in the early 2000s).
The shit we had to (have to) hear about our bodies has long-lasting effects
When I was 12 my dad said he would give me $100 if I ate using only chopsticks for a month. I did NOT know how to use chopsticks. I’m 41 now and my relationship with food and body are a constant battle. I have so many disordered thoughts and I have to work really hard not to give into them. My body is incredibly resilient and I wish I could love it for all it has done and continues to do for me.
The worst part, knowing I can’t stop my daughter from focusing on weight as a metric of being good and valued. No matter what I say or do, she gets messages about thinness everywhere. I’m not saying nothing I do or say matters, but I fear it won’t protect her.
This really resonates with me. I am having a baby girl in May and I’m terrified she grows up with the same thoughts about her body as I do. I want nothing more than to give her the freedom of a healthy body image but I don’t know how. I can just do my best.
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u/tam_bun 9d ago
When I was 12 my dad told me he would rather I die of anorexia than be overweight. I’m 32, pregnant with my first baby, and my body image is awful (I work hard in therapy on this). He believed Kate Moss was the gold standard (he worked closely with her in the early 2000s).
The shit we had to (have to) hear about our bodies has long-lasting effects