Saw a similar post so I thought I’d ask the opposing question, What are some of the unspoken experiences and hardships of being a “skinny girl”?

26 comments

  1. People gossiping about you and accusing you of having an eating disorder constantly

  2. i get sick so often. idk if that’s from being skinny or what. since i was a child, i’ve been taken to doctors over and over to see why i was never gaining weight. my body image is terrible, i want to look healthy. customers at my work will often ask me how much i weigh, or joke that i “don’t eat enough to work here” . also my boney booty! sitting so long with no cushion is the worst!! getting on birth control helped me gain roughly 10lbs and i’m super happy about that, but some people still aren’t pleased. idk.

  4. I think people feel as though they can talk about your body negatively and it’s not going to hurt you.
    Basically the mindset that one body type has to be less than or put down in order for another to appreciated and thought of as beautiful. Every body is beautiful and unique and I’m so sick of the way diet culture and consumerism has brainwashed us into feeling inadequate in our beautiful vessels that are literally gifts.

  6. It’s not fun seeing people compare your body type to prepubescent boys.

    There are also health problems associated with low body weight, like osteoporosis.

  7. One of my first memories is my mother telling me that my body made her sick to look at. I ate a lot, but I was naturally skinny. She didn’t want me to have an eating disorder, so paradoxically, she shamed my natural weight until I got to the point where I hated eating in front of my friends. I didn’t want anyone to comment on my food, even though a friend’s comments wouldn’t be nearly as cruel.

    I hated a girl in my friend group, but I kept silent about it for years. She struggled with being overweight and constantly made digs at me about how real women have fat, about how no one wants a stick, about how no woman has “XYZ” characteristic. The one time I tried to respond to her little comments, I was treated coldly by the friend group for not understanding the other girl’s struggle with weight.

    Ironically, the girl in question was a healthy weight. I was not.

    If I told them about my mom, they would have understood and empathized. But I shouldn’t have to unveil trauma in order to live without judgement on my body, even if my body is (or used to be?) the ideal.

  8. I hate hearing about how I’m lucky to be relatively thin. I’m not, I used to be fat and I lost 100 pounds. I even had a baby and I am still thin, because I hated being fat and I don’t want to be ever again. But of course, you can’t actually say this, because it would offend people.

    And on the topic of pregnancy, it bothers me how it’s 100% acceptable to just randomly talk about my postpartum body simply because I guess it looks okay. Of course I’m glad I didn’t blow up during pregnancy, but I don’t want to be made to think about the changes *I* know my body’s gone through any more than someone with a bunch of stretch marks or 50 extra pounds that they’re stressing over. Why is it okay to make comments just because *you* assume I must be happy with my appearance?

    It’s also kind of annoying to hear about how much I’m eating at any given meal. “Where does it all go??” In my stomach, mind your business.

  10. People asking you if you have an eating disorder, how much you weigh and if they can pick you up, as if these were normal questions to ask someone. Jokes about how you’ll fly away when it’s windy or about how they’re surprised you ate more than what they expected from you.

  11. I’m 180 cm. I used to weigh 58 kg at my lowest, people thought I had an eating disorder because of how skinny I was. I just wasn’t feeling hungry that much and forcing myself to eat wasn’t exactly something I liked, it just made my stomach feel bad.

    I used to feel colder when I weighed 58 kg as well.

  12. I’ve been accused of being a junkie and having a eating disorder.

    But frankly the inability to put on weight and loving corset and boob tube tops

  13. I’m always cold. I have 3 electric blankets scattered across the house. I also have multiple jackets and long sleeves and gloves everywhere. My Christmas gift for as long as I can remember has always been fuzzy socks, a blanket, a hat and mittens, or a scarf. I can’t handle the cold.

    People constantly ask me if I’ve eaten anything or tell me I need to eat something. They also get upset when I do not eat at parties. It is difficult for them to understand that I have celiac disease and can’t just eat whatever.

    People also accuse me of having an eating disorder. No I do not have an eating disorder. Yes my doctor is very much aware of my weight and my medical history isn’t anyone else’s business.

    People asking if my bf is going to crush me or how we have sex. We just have sex. This baffles me as to why someone thinks its okay to even ask this.

    Finding clothing in my size that isn’t children’s clothing is ridiculously difficult. Though it isn’t hard to find my bra size so thats nice. I have a cousin that is as small as me but well endowed and she can’t find a bra for shit. She has to order them.

    Also a lady acted like she was going to throw up and called me disgusting because she could see my ribs at the beach. They are just ribs lady. Its not like I’m skin and bones I have a little meat on me. I don’t look like a walking skeleton.

  14. It really irks me when strangers project that I’m making some sort of statement about how other womens’ bodies SHOULD be just by existing in my own.

    I’ve struggled to gain weight my whole life, and it could just as easily be the other way around. So please Harold, spare me your stinky “compliments” at the expense of other women here trying to grocery shop, I just want a jar of pickles.

  15. I was called a ’12 year old boy’ in highschool because I am a naturally very thin person.

    Boys made mean comments about my body constantly.

    I heard some passing remarks about me having bulimia at a family dinner. (I don’t have an ED)

  16. People making jokes saying you look sick, like a twig, toothpick, etc. Saying the wind is going to blow you so you should eat a burger (I was overeating everyday till my tummy hurt just so I could hopefully gain some weight but it wasn’t working… ended up giving myself health issues instead). Accusing you of having eating disorders and stuff and making fun of said EDs.

    It was hard to shop back then too. I was a 00 and XXS in everything but it wasn’t widely available. Just sooo many hurtful comments about everything related to my body and I was just expected to take it because “at least you’re skinny”…

  17. People feeling sorry for me because I’m skinny.

    People telling me I need to eat.

    People *asking* me if I eat.

    Being accused of having an eating disorder.

    Being outright told to gain weight by people who aren’t my doctor (who is perfectly happy with my weight)

    Having my body compared to a prepubescent child and told only men that are secretly P words are interested in me.

  18. I’ve since moved out due to study and work, but my parents always bickered about my weight. Im naturally small, but Im quite athletic so I am skinny muscular which can make me look like I have an ED, but I dont, I just look like a marathon runner.

    My mum has an ED, and is very open about being sick, and how Im just like her and it must be genetic…I am not, and I have never been.

    Dad was always telling me to put on a few kilos, I did try, but I just couldnt. He was always like you should be X weight.

    And my Mum was always like, if I was X weight Id be a chub and who wants to live with a chub.

  19. “You have the perfect body”. ” You can’t be insecure,u look perfect”. “I wish I had a body like yours.”
    I HATED my body. Every inch of it. I just wanted to gain weight. And I did… Now they are telling me I got fat. I didn’t got fat at all. Just got bigger thighs and butty. And a little tummy fat. Which I am happy with it rn. But they tell me,I am not the same as before. Even though it’s equally to ntg how much weight I gained.

  21. People always commenting on your weight/body because it’s supposed to be a “compliment”

    Example: I used to work at a bakery and once a day I would hear, “how do you work here, you’re so skinny!”

    Doesn’t help I used to suffer from an ED. I would prefer to not exist in a physical form please

    (Not saying this is in any way comparable to the body shaming heavier people experience which is horrendous)

  22. My daughter is a “skinny girl” and I constantly have family members comment to her how tiny she is, and that she is too skinny. It pisses me off. She’s naturally slight and I don’t want them giving her a complex.

  23. That you’d think that being told “you’re so skinny” is a compliment when in reality whenever I’m told that I feel like crap about myself and feel even more insecure.

  24. Doctors ALWAYS THINK YOU’RE HEALTHY.

    Seriously. I’m thin, and I read fast, and it was O YOU ARE SO HEALTHY AND SMART all my life and I have chronic illnesses and ADHD, thanks. But it was hard as hell to get people to pay attention.

  25. Because it’s the social norm to be skinny, once you lose that “skinny girl” status, you get looked at differently. So you have to work to keep it, and any weight gain will be immediately commented on

  26. I feel like when you’re skinny, people feel the need to question the food you eat.

    I’m skinny in addition to being a picky eater. So you can imagine how often I get harassed for what I eat. (I’ll try anything, I just tend to like more simple foods. I can’t help it.)

    I dread any family gathering or work event where I have to prepare a plate of food in front of people.

    I naturally eat small portions of food bc I get full really quickly, and I’m a picky eater, so I constantly get people asking why I’m not eating this or that, why I put so little food on my plate, or just making fun of the food I just prepared for myself. It makes me feel so self conscious.

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