My Art Teacher Was The First Person to Make Me Feel Uncomfortable About My Body
She should have never commented on my body
I was a teenager at a time when the media was especially cruel to women. Celebrities like Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears were shamed for their bodies if they dared to gain even a small amount of weight. These celebrities were often more slim than the average woman or teenage girl, so seeing them being body-shamed hurt some of the girls I knew.
I can still remember one of my friends crying about her body when we were in sixth grade. When we asked her what was wrong, she said she didn’t feel skinny enough, and it made her feel bad to see someone thinner than her. I never knew what made her feel that way, but I’m sure it was a mixture of the way the media portrayed women and how we witnessed adults discussing their bodies.
I’d like to say that I never felt self-conscious about my own body, but there were times when I didn’t feel as confident as I should have. I was always a bit on the small side, but no one ever commented on my body. I was one of the lucky few who could eat whatever I wanted without gaining weight because of how active I was.
When I was a teenager, I started a new medicine that made it difficult for me to gain weight. The medicine ended up causing…
