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When I was a corper, I once got worryingly ill. It seemed like my kidney functions had all but ceased all of a sudden. I had no desire to eat or drink. I was admitted to the hospital & placed on an IV for a week, the only solid food I could manage was just a small bit of fruit
Naturally I lost weight, not a dramatic amount cus this only lasted around a week. At the time I was a UK size 8 so I was already stereotypically slim. I remember going back to work and one of my female supervisors harping on about how much weight I had gained on my "holiday"
We had an office lunch room that provided us with meals, I had just started to get my appetite back and was still on medication. She kept harping on how I must have really enjoyed myself on my holiday cos of how big my cheeks were. She seemingly assumed my absence was for a trip?
On the day of my 28th birthday, I could not fit into a dress I had wanted to wear and my mother made an unkind remark about my recent weight gain when I asked her help in zipping me up. I had gone up 1 dress size (from 8 to a 10). I made my peace and wore something else to work
I had mostly kept it being my birthday under wraps, except to a few of my colleagues. Later that day in the office, a woman in senior management who I rarely interacted with but who had always been kind, decided for some reason to go on a VERY open tirade about my weight gain
I worked in an open office setup so the entire office floor heard her berate me for my weight gain. I thought she had come up to me to wish me a happy birthday. Afterwards I told my boss I wanted to go home (I lived close by) to pick up my cake. On the way I parked my car & cried
After lockdown eased & my current job ended Work From Home, I returned to the doldrums of office life. Male colleagues were going from cubicle to cubicle excited to see their coworkers in the flesh after so long. Female colleagues? Discussing everyone's apparent weight gain/loss
One would come to me and the first thing she would say is "wow Mosun you really stayed in shape over lockdown how did you do it?". Nest thing another one would come and be like "ah Mosun, look at your body now, you must have been chopping any how over this break" *snide laugh*
My general point is that I've had to come to a decision to rationally understand that any comments about my body are mostly projections of the person who makes the comment
That being said, I remember every single unkind comment that has been made about my body. Every single one
That being said, I remember every single unkind comment that has been made about my body. Every single one
I love my body. I genuinely do. I may not be as thin as I used to be but that's not such a big deal to me (though I admit I do miss my old clothes). It just feels like people constantly want me to hate my body, never be satisfied with it and fear weight gain like the black plague
I've constantly explained to women that there is no number on a scale that will ever make you magically happy, the world will still make you feel like you are not doing enough. If for any reason you must alter your body, let it be for medical reasons and your general wellbeing
