Women share their body-shaming experiences with #TheySaid

Negative comments we hear about our bodies can fester in our minds for years and shape the way we feel about ourselves. With a new hashtag, #TheySaid, women are fighting body shaming by taking the comments they’ve been dealing with alone and sharing them publicly.

Cosmopolitan.com reports that the hastag started with Sally Bergesen, the founder and CEO of athletic-wear brand Oiselle. She called upon Twitter users who have experienced body-shaming to share their stories using #TheySaid. The outpouring of tweets using the hashtag is saddening, yet inspiring, as so many women have come together to share stories about this common experience.

Women experienced body-shaming from family members…

mentors and peers…

https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/868218393245003776

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and complete strangers.

After beginning a chain of sharing hurt, Bergesen asked herself how we could arm our young girls with responses that will make them bulletproof to body-shaming. She started the response hashtag, #SheReplied, for women to tweet how they dealt with harmful comments.

As much as the #TheySaid tweets were affirming and inspirational, the #SheReplied tweets make us want to high-five every single woman who tweeted a response.

https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/867888925632745478

This feed of tweets reminds us that we are not alone in experiencing hurtful comments about our bodies. Unfortunately, body-shaming is still alive and well. But rather than letting these comments get us down, we can use them to empower ourselves and each other.

Create an arsenal of positive comebacks to remind yourself that your body is uniquely beautiful. Crush outdated beauty standards every day by existing in and loving your body. For every mean comment, give yourself a compliment. We can and are combating body-shaming and forming a world where future girls can feel safe and wonderful in the skin they’re in.

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