This woman’s Facebook letter to a girl who was body-shamed just moved us to tears
We need a word that captures the pain of being all grown-up and seeing a young person experiencing the same kind of bullying you endured when you were this person’s age. At some point, so many of us have experienced that Proust-eating-a-madeleine-flashback-feeling of reliving your own painful childhood memories as you watch someone young experience this same pain in real time. It’s like witnessing a vicious cycle that begs to be stopped. Which is why one woman decided to step in and do just that.
Enter Indy Pro Wrestler and body positivity advocate Kate-Lynn Edwards who recently took action after watching a young girl body-shamed by her peers at the Porter County Fair in Indiana.
Edwards, who recalled being bullied in high school, took to Facebook to pen an open letter to the anonymous girl after seeing her face cruel laughter when she struggled to get on a ride.
“I witnessed a few girls be very mean to you, and I wanted to get out of my seat and reprimand them as I sat there and smiled at you instead, not taking action” she writes on Facebook.
“If you read this,” she continues, “I wish I could meet you, and be your friend. I witnessed you not have fun on that ride, you had the same blank and saddened look when the ride started as when it ended. I saw your bright smile walking on the ride that disappeared because of those girls. They were mean to you regarding your body, and I NEED you to know – DON’T LISTEN TO THEM. This is only a Facebook post, in which I don’t have enough time to tell you about my life. But I have been thinking about last night all day, I need to find you and tell you how beautiful you are, and how much you are worth. Your smile was perfect, and truthfully you are beautiful.”
Edwards goes on to write that she can’t “erase last night’s experience from you, but whatever I can do to reach you and show you your worth, I will do.”
She then asks her Facebook friends to share this message (you can read the whole thing here), in hopes of reaching this young girl and planning some “wonderful experience that outweighs last night’s bad.”
“Mostly, I want to talk to you, and get to know you, and what you want,” she adds.
Since Edwards wrote the note this weekend, it has been shared over 4,000 times, and it’s starting to make headlines. The supportive comments on the post and the private messages Edwards has received from people who personally relate to the little girl’s plight are a testament to the power of Edwards’ words.
“I didn’t realize there were so many people out there who don`t realize that they’re all beautiful and none of us are perfect and it’s our imperfections that make us different,” Edwards tells CBS4Indy. “Stop all, like every kind of hate. There’s no point to make someone feel like less of a human being.”
As of this writing, Edwards has not yet made contact with the little girl, but we sincerely hope that the two are able to connect. Edwards seems like the best kind of real-life fairy godmother and the perfect antidote to a bad case of bullying.
“You, young lady, who ever [sic] you are. Mostly, I want to talk to you, and get to know you, and what you want,” Edwards concludes in her Facebook post. ” “Your [sic] special and wonderful and I am sure smart and truly beautiful.I hope I find you, and I hope I get to know you.” Now, thanks to all the positive reactions and shared stories Edwards has received she is considering launching a program to help young people struggling with their own body image.
We hope the power of the Internet brings these two great ladies together. In the meantime, we’re grateful this post has gone viral, it’s given us all a much-needed reminder of the power of kindness in the fact of cruelty. It’s also a powerful message to anyone who’s ever been slighted or felt lesser than because their appearance doesn’t conform to society’s narrow beauty norms. We all are beautiful in our own way, and sometimes, even when it seems like we’re invisible, there’s a complete stranger who’s watching out for us and reminding us how special we really are.
Related:
Not OK: State fair’s Facebook page turns into a body-shaming free-for-all
What I wish I could tell my younger self about body confidence
(Image via Facebook)
