Bullying

zaithyr
zaithyr Posts: 482 Member
edited December 20 in Motivation and Support
Were you ever bullied/made fun of about your weight growing up? If so, what effect did it have on you (as far as emotionally, weight gain/loss). Just curious to see what past experiences are! Honestly, I have seen a few posters on here post some mean things and I've often wondered if they realize that they sound exactly like a bully.

I would say my biggest bully growing up was my own stepmother. She would hound me about my weight and say mean things (looking back I wasn't all that heavy) and rail me for not doing the latest fad diet that she was doing. She may have thought it would motivate me to lose weight but as a kid it just screwed me up even more. I had an aversion to anything considered "dieting" and was flat out depressed. Eventually I became what she had accused me of. Granted, I did have a few medical conditions that made it harder to lose the weight than your average joe, but now I'm getting that under control and starting to lose the weight (without fad dieting!)

Replies

  • pookers7
    pookers7 Posts: 59
    You know, I was always a skinny kid. It wasn't until I was 20+that I gained anything. I had a coworker say she "couldn't tell I was pregnant because I had always been so "chunky"". I mean, I hated that girl anyway but what is wrong with some people? This same girl said "fat people shouldn't reproduce because they'll just have fat kids". Like they are totally worthless as people if they aren't skinny? That was my first experience with anyone like that and it was horrible.
    I honestly don't think some people would care if they knew they sounded like a bully. I think it's intentional and it's a way of self affirmation through bullying. She was a horrible person with very few friends and no accomplishments in life. I think she just bullied people to make herself seem better somehow. Since the only think she had was being skinny, she decided that was the most important asset anyone could have.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    I wasn't bullied for being overweight (I didn't gain weight until I was 18) but was bullied for many other reasons. The one that seems on point here is that when I was a kid (maybe 8 or 9), the other girls teased me mercilessly for having "fat legs." I wasn't anywhere close to overweight, but have always had a muscle-heavy build and had very "shapely/curvy" (I don't know how else to put it) legs even back then. My parents tried over and over again to tell me that I wasn't fat, that someday those girls would be jealous of how my legs looked instead of making fun of me for it. They even took me to the doctor to have her explain about body shapes and how I would "never be stick-skinny like that" (I still remember the words). They tried to tell me that I was strong rather than skinny and that it was a good thing. I never believed them though; I thought they were just trying to make me feel better while everyone else was being honest when they called me fat.

    I pretty much didn't admit they were right until adulthood when I noticed that suddenly a lot of women my age were upset at having super thin straight legs and struggled to develop a curvier look.
  • Buddhasmiracle
    Buddhasmiracle Posts: 925 Member
    Pretty much. I grew up during the 60's and their were barely a handful of us throughout the school system that were fat as compared to kids today. I remember kids chanting, "Fatty, Fatty two by four, can't fit through the bathroom door, so she does it on the floor, fatty fatty two by four!" Or "Fat and skinny had a race up and down the pillowcase, Fat fell down and broke her crown, Skinny won the race!" These were pretty much "regular" or "nice" kids too, not ogres or anything like that. It was very acceptable among peer groups to single out fat kids, particularlly girls.

    I've had to work diligently on confidence and self - esteem, and cultivate inner strength and self-love. It's been hard work with a tremendous payoff.
  • Kashton2011
    Kashton2011 Posts: 324 Member
    Although I wasn't bullied by any one/ group of people I got called names throughout school. Although overweight I wass quite active at school, playing on the netball and badminton teams. Having always been overweight my own mother tended to be the worst!! Also strangers (more so when I was young) but even now when on night outs, groups of lads can be mean and say stuff for no other reason that you just happen to be walking past them to go to the bar or toilets.

    This has all definitely impacted on me and I have, even now, very little self confidence and I struggle daily with the idea that I might lose a lot of weight and I therefore sabotage myself. Positive thinking is something that needs a lot of work. Ready all of the success stories is a great inspiration to me
  • Meg_78
    Meg_78 Posts: 998 Member
    I was teased because I was underweight, and just generally shy, small and quiet. I eventually became strong enough to fight my bully and win that particular round but it did leave scars. People, even as adults have been needlessly mean and snarky about my weight and though I have a bitc# face for it on the outside, inside I am quite insecure and hate my body alot of the time. It has only been in the last couple of years that I have activitly started to change myself., so I have parts that I like, but I'm still not that happy with the whole package.
  • carrie3479
    carrie3479 Posts: 41 Member
    The fun of being an overweight child and teenager meant I was constantly hounded with the name "ten tonne tessie" , having glasses also meant I got the "four eyes" treatment.

    And at a whopping 4ft 11 and a little bit, I got shorty, I have a large chest (since I was 9 I have worn a bra!) so thats another snippy and *****y thing that I get.

    Even now my granddad pats me on the bum and says "hello fatty", my nan constantly comments on the fact she cant believe I am smaller than her - I Am a UK 14 (although at times thats a squeeze!) and she is a UK 18! My mother is always making the remark that we must be the same size (she is uk 20 - 22!)

    As a kid I learnt to get in there first with the "oh I am so fat" jokes and taught myself to laugh it off. The silly thing is that as I was growing up I was made to eat every speck on the plate by my nan and my mum. Now I am trying to get this ingrained habit out and teach myself to eat until I am full, not until the plate is empty!

    Now I get comments from my daughter (naturally slim teenager who eats mountains of food!)

    But enough is enough, I will show them!
  • lucy0326
    lucy0326 Posts: 54 Member
    I've been "big" for as long as I can remember, and while I lived in my hometown I was bullied constantly for my weight. I mean even by parents of some of my classmates! When I was still in grade school a mom took her son out of our Christmas program for parents because he got partnered up with me (due to our heights) and she didnt want her son dancing with the "fat" girl. She then had her son come and tell me why he wasnt dancing with me in front of the whole class. I remember crying my eyes out because I wasnt allowed to be in the Christmas program due to not having a partner. Over the years I was bullied by being called whale or piggy and even thrown some trash at me while in school. I was lucky to have great friends that got me through it until graduation. I am an emotional eater so all the bulling just pushed me to eat more. I've moved out of my small town and the times I do go visit family I usually stay clear of negative ppl. Bullying sucks and it really didnt help my weight over the years but now Im in a better place in my life and losing the weight slowly and healthy.
  • zaithyr
    zaithyr Posts: 482 Member
    I've been "big" for as long as I can remember, and while I lived in my hometown I was bullied constantly for my weight. I mean even by parents of some of my classmates! When I was still in grade school a mom took her son out of our Christmas program for parents because he got partnered up with me (due to our heights) and she didnt want her son dancing with the "fat" girl. She then had her son come and tell me why he wasnt dancing with me in front of the whole class. I remember crying my eyes out because I wasnt allowed to be in the Christmas program due to not having a partner. Over the years I was bullied by being called whale or piggy and even thrown some trash at me while in school. I was lucky to have great friends that got me through it until graduation. I am an emotional eater so all the bulling just pushed me to eat more. I've moved out of my small town and the times I do go visit family I usually stay clear of negative ppl. Bullying sucks and it really didnt help my weight over the years but now Im in a better place in my life and losing the weight slowly and healthy.

    That mother is awful for doing that and teaching her son how to hurt people!
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