An Unexpected Encounter With Body Shaming
Shopping can be a great time of bonding for mother and daughter, especially when the purchase is for something special — like an upcoming formal. Kansas mom, Megan, was recently out with her daughter, Lexi, for that exact reason, and the two were having a blast searching for just the right dress.
Megan’s precious daughter Credit: Facebook / Megan Naramore Harris
But their special moment was soon ruined when her beautiful daughter became an unfortunate victim to blatant body shaming. And you may be surprised to hear that the culprit was actually an employee at the store where Megan and Lexi were shopping!
Megan found a lovely dress that didn’t match the style Lexi was seeking, but that the proud mom still just wanted to see on her. So, the young girl was a good sport and even let Megan snap a photo of her in the red little number.
That’s when a nearby saleswoman chimed in, saying that if Lexi planned on wearing the dress, she was going to need a pair of SPANX — body shaping undergarments intended to give a smoother, slimmer appearance. The insinuation from this unsolicited comment was hurtful enough, but Megan says it only got worse as the saleswoman persisted.
And so, she’s sharing the story on Facebook with a powerful letter written to the store employee, in the hopes it will encourage others to take a stand against the body shaming that’s become so prevalent today, especially towards young women.
Read on to hear what Megan had to say. . .
"Dear sales lady. . .
This is my teenage daughter who wanted to try on dresses for an upcoming formal. I found this dress and asked her to try it on. She told me this was not her style, but tried it on for me. I told her how grown up it made her look and she smiled, and told me this made her look too old but still, she let me take a picture.
Credit: Facebook / Megan Naramore Harris
Right after that, you entered and told my daughter she needed to wear SPANX if she wanted to wear this dress. I told my daughter to go change. I told you that she was just fine without SPANX. You continued to argue with me. We left soon after. I wish I had told you how many girls suffer from poor self-image and telling them they need something to make them perfect can be very damaging. Girls of all ages, shapes and sizes are perfect because that is how God made them.
Credit: Facebook / Megan Naramore Harris
If they feel good in a dress, that is all that should matter. My daughter is tall, she swims, runs, dances and does yoga. She's fit. She's beautiful. She did not need you telling her that she is not perfect. I hope this is shared and gets back to you so that you should not say something like that to a girl ever again. You never know what negative or positive thoughts they are thinking about themselves.
Sincerely, Mother of a beautiful girl"
Megan’s post has been shared by over 50,000 people and liked by several hundred thousand! And both she and Lexi have been receiving tons of messages of support, praising Lexi for the beautiful young lady that she is.
Stories like Megan’s are an important reminder of the increasing pressure on women these days to look a certain way in order to be considered “beautiful.” And young girls are especially vulnerable to that pressure. It’s important that we encourage our young women to love and accept who they are, and to remember that the worldly view of beauty greatly differs from the Godly view.
See this woman’s classic response to a man who called her fat!
h/t: Little Things
Credit: Facebook