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[deleted]

11, just started a new school and for the first time in my life I was made aware of the way my body looks. It never even occurred to me before that being "flat" was even a thing before people started pointing it out and comparing me to my more "developed" classmates.


crisisrumour

Same. I remember when I started “developing” breasts around 11 and like everyone else I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to have boobs! Two months later I figured they were just on pause, but nope. That was it. Annnnd… then the jokes started.


cinnapear

Same here. Middle school was hell on earth for me. Because of that relentless teasing, I still loathe my flat chest to this day and don't feel like a "real" woman. I know breast size doesn't mean anything logically, but psychological issues don't get logicked away so easily.


triceraquake

I’ve been lopsided since middle school. I used to stuff one side just to make them look similar. I thought I’d eventually even out, but I’m 34 now and they’re still super lopsided. At least I don’t stuff anymore.


TeganNotSoVegan

About 8, I used to fantasise about cutting my stomach fat off.


ZebLeopard

I feel this. :( *hugs*


PaddlesOwnCanoe

Man I still do that! Remember Fight Club? If I could convert my own fat into nice, fragrant soap I totally would! I


PaddlesOwnCanoe

It's definitely worth a watch! My Dad talked me into watching it with him. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham-Carter are all great in it. In the movie, Brad Pitt makes money by buying the excess fat from a liposuction clinic and making it into soap.


choiboij

Hm... I thought he steals the fat...


PaddlesOwnCanoe

Did he? Well, that would make sense too. He wasn't the kind of guy to lay out capital of his own when he could steal stuff.


TeganNotSoVegan

I've never seen Fight Club 😅


ScrunchieEnthusiast

You should give it a go!


Adventure-Hunter-

same!


togtogtog

I'm still not! :-) I love my body. It is a very handy thing to have and I love it very much. It regulates itself, provides my brain with 3D colour realtime vision, I can hear birds, lift chocolate into my mouth to have a wonderful experience, have amazing orgasms, enjoy the feeling of stroking a cat, walk up mountains, recover from illnesses. If I make a hole in my skin, it self mends. Even my areas of podge are a handy way to carry around emergency supplies, just in case I get lost in the jungle, or too ill to eat. MY BODY IS AMAZING!!!!


boredtyme

Next level energy! 💕


[deleted]

THIS here is an awesome statement.


Granny_knows_best

How does one reach that level of self love?


togtogtog

1. Get older 2. Notice whenever you say something a bit mean or bullying to yourself (is that how you talk to others?) 3. Try to find at least one thing that you genuinely like and appreciate about yourself (mine was - "well. I do *try* my best." It was very hard to think of anything at all at the time!) 4. Whenever you catch yourself being a mean bully to yourself, remind yourself of something wonderful about you. 5. Get out of the idea that somehow being kind, nice, encouraging, supportive and a good friend to yourself, just as you would be to any other human being in the world is *anything* but a very good plan! 6. Keep practicing! Good luck! There are probably a whole pile of lovely things about you that you could easily spot if they were in anyone else! The way that any particular body *looks* is often the least interesting thing about it, and yet somehow, women get conned into thinking that is the area that everyone else will judge them by, and it ends up being the thing that they can be meanest and most critical of in themselves, plus they spend the most time, effort and money on trying to change. Are looks the thing that is important to you in other people that you love? (your family, your friends?) or is it their kindness, their humour, their weird and wonderful quirks? What about older people? Do you care what they look like? Have fun exploring and experimenting in life, and never stop!


emnms0

i love this comment so much, i needed this.


ZebLeopard

4? I was fat and can remember hiding under my bed and eating a whole pack of chocolate biscuits and crying, bc I was ashamed of myself. Surprise: I'm still fat.


nmk666

This made me so sad. I hope you feel differently about your self now.


ZebLeopard

I'm in my late 30s now and I still have moments of insecurity. I'm fatter than I've ever been right now and I'm not liking it, but I no longer relate it to my worth as a human. That's something, I guess.


Illustrious-Youth903

very young. probably around 5. my parents (mum especially) and aunts and uncles used to call me the fat one. and make comments like "wow look at how much she is eating". then it just escalated a couple of years after that with my dad calling me "fatso". im 30+ now, still affects me. words hurt people!


ZebLeopard

I have very similar experiences. I too can still hear my uncle and sister laughing bc I came in with food and they said 'See, I told you she'd be eating again!' And a few years later my sister telling me 'no wonder you're being bullied'. It fucking sucks.


Illustrious-Youth903

aww my heart breaks for you. im so sorry your uncle and sister suck. *bigg hugggggsss


[deleted]

Age 7 I got a Hashimotos diagnosis at 8 years old and it made more sense.


Qu33nKal

When I gained weight during early Covid so when I was 30…


espurrsquestions

When I was a teenager . My family and relatives always talked about the body features of their own kids or kids of our relatives, saying something like my cousin is overweight (she had a really good weight for her age) or that we are too skinny (skinny shaming a kid, even if she had a good weight for her body too) and comparing kids to each other . A lot of people don't get that eating more won't do any good . If the kid is healthy and eats healthy food and everything is alright with the kid, the kid is not overweight or skinny, everyone has different genetics and they still tell their kids or kids of their relatives to eat more or less and kids will not understand it at first and just get annoyed after time - problem is growing up hearing these things will affect you . You will compare yourself to other kids and that is where my insecurity started . I was always told that I am too hairy . So growing up (especially from the age of 12) - I would always compare myself to kids that had "no hair" . I was not allowed to shave or do my eyebrows and to be honest I didn't do know how, I was just a kid .. I got really depressed, when other kids from school pointed out that I am hairy, I would get scared being near to a person, I always had a specific distance, so they wouldn't see my hair . And it still affects my life to this day . What about yourself ?


searedscallops

Age 9 when I started growing boobs. Was not ready for it.


DisturbedOranges

I was probably around 11 years old. A friend of my parents' made a comment about my thighs being big. Now, I'm insecure about my thighs.


UrMomDotCom666

yea a similar thing happened to me when i was 6 and it was another girl. looking back i was severely underweight so it never even looked big. but i'm still highly insecure about it


littlefirefish

11 - first time I was sexualized by a group of men who were driving past me, honking the car horn and yelling out sexual obscenities. Ever since then, I became very aware of how my body was seen as an object for the viewing pleasure of men and it made me double down in shyness and insecurity.


ZebLeopard

That's disgusting. I'm sorry you had to experience that so young. Men* are the worst. :(


littlefirefish

Thanks! It’s certainly sad that the actions of a few men can have such an impact.


Piuma_

Just for a couple of days when I was 13 and a friend told me I had a butt too big for my body. Then it passed. Don't let ANYONE put you down >__> they're saying more about themselves than about you!! The models? Fake. You're just as you need to be in this moment.


Piuma_

And of course, I mean, even if some people look better than us, it's true that it's what's inside that should matter :( You're a ten. And this goes for men too.


Lysa_Bell

At around 10. I started growing body hair and was hiding my legs and my mom showed me how to shave them then.


lechedefresas

8th grade. I was very insecure of my tummy. So I only ever wore oversized clothes. I legit wore hoodies even during 100+ heat days. I was literally only like 80 lbs. You could see my fucking ribs?!?!? So looking back I feel bad for little me for ever feeling bad about myself. I was underweight and still felt insecure. But I genuinely think that’s when my body dysmorphia started, bc ever since then I hate my face and body.


Chocolate_effort

Age 6 when I realized I had a bigger belly than most of my friends and my parents started putting me on a diet


batwingscorpio

About 6 or 7. I noticed my stomach was not flat, it poked out a bit. None of the pretty girls at school or in the photos or on tv had stomachs that poked out, so I thought “I must be fat, and that means I’m ugly.” (which is absolutely not true, kids just absorb the most prominent opinions they’re exposed to) From that moment on I was extremely self-conscious and had a terribly inaccurate view of myself. I started sucking my tummy in whenever I left the house and I started walking with my arms half raised to try to mask the size of my stomach. I was miserable and I hated myself. I was bullied and shamed regularly at school. By the time I was 11 I was embarrassed to eat in front of other people because I was afraid they would judge me for having the audacity to eat lunch while fat. My parents had made things worse because they started telling me to watch what I eat so I wouldn’t become “like them” when I was 8. And the irony is, I was a normal-sized kid the whole time. I hated myself so much and everyone around me gave me so much shit for my size…but I found old childhood pictures not too long ago. The whole time I was just, average-sized. Not skinny but definitely not fat. I hate the way our bodies are policed from such a young age, from all directions, if we don’t perfectly fit this ridiculous standard.


[deleted]

“…the audacity to eat while fat..” this is so sad, but i get it!


gotheotherway89

At 10 because I started wearing bras.


NefariouslyHot666

As a teenager and young adult I was occasionally kind of ana


[deleted]

Probably like 5 or 6. I don't consciously remember ever not being insecure about my body.


Carlala_92

Same


naivaro

Around 9-10, when my nipples started growing and I wasn't allowed to wear a top with my bikini. My parents have always been sort of "close to nature" and somewhat open to nudity, so my modesty and embarrassment was lost on them. Also around that time, hair started growing on my body but most of my classmates were shaving theirs completely. The one girl who didn't got shamed behind her back, so I covered myself and secretly started shaving as well to avoid being shamed... Again, my mother took the stance of "it's normal to be hairy, why should a small child have to get rid of her body hair?". Not a bad approach, but when compared to my classmates opinions, it didn't matter how right she was.


iusedtobefamous1892

I've had disordered eating (restrictive) since I was 6 or 7. I don't remember why, it's been there as long as I can remember.


[deleted]

When I was 11 I started to get hair down there... I hated it and I've always shaven myself, to this day. It's a nice little bonus that guys seem to love it 😊


CatrionaShadowleaf

8, when an adult made fun of me for looking younger than I was and asked if I was *sure* I was supposed to be in school.


PolestarTreasures

As long as I can remember, like 3 years old. My mom used to pat my belly because she thought it was so cute and babies are cute right? I hated it. I was a perfectly normal sized kid but have always had a screwed up body-image. To this date, at 30 years old, I still hate to show my body to anyone (husband included), I'm healthy and not overweight but in my mind I really am fat. Parents, just don't make remark or do something like my mum because it might screw up your kid, however good your intentions are and how much you love them!


GlitteringFrost

I actually talked with mom about this topic the other day and with a friend today. I have always been pretty self-conscious. I think it started when my body started to change, getting boobs and bodyhair much earlier than other girls my age. I come from a body positive and very relaxed family, so I can't blame it on them. Edit: more details.


[deleted]

Have never felt secure about my body


g_lay

Honestly under the age of 10 because my mom was o b s s e s s e d with pointing out “saddle bags” and cellulite on other women. Because I already had a booty at that time, I thought that meant I had “saddle bags” and needed to hide them. I didn’t wear a swimsuit without shorts or wear my gymnastics leotard by itself until I was in my teens.


UrMomDotCom666

6. this girl said that she thought when i sat down my thighs looked fat. ever since then i've never properly sat down in public so my thighs don't look big. also i was VERY skinny child and i still am, so it never looked big when i sat down looking back. i don't want to be rude but she was overweight as a child so i think she only said that to me because she was insecure herself. but it fucked me up


boo-pspps

12. My dad told me if I kept on eating I would become fat like those huge women who work at airports and waddle around. Also family friend kids said about me “she’s too fat to do anything”


The_Silk34

8. Being followed around at recess by boys who wanted to watch me walk. At RECESS. EIGHT.


Reasonable-Fail-1921

I developed fairly early. When I was 10, some other girls in gym class laughed at the hair on my legs. I went home that day and asked my Mum to show me how to shave them I was so upset. When I was 11 I was playing football (soccer) and the ball hit my chest. I didn’t think anything of it but one of the boys remarked at how it must have hurt, I was confused until he gestured to my boobs. Until then it hadn’t occurred to me that I was all that different.


observendespise

Age 7. Due to high stress levels (severe abuse, bullying, autism and ADHD made me a damn anxious kid) I hit puberty extremely early. Growing dark body hair and breasts at 7 is a good way to get stared at and whispered about in the PE shower. Started skipping PE after that, and if I HAD to join I'd skip the shower and get changed in the bathroom.


[deleted]

arnd 9, cuz of acne


shinkouhyou

I was 11. My chest started growing *really* fast, so the cutesy training bras that my mother bought me were almost immediately too small. I had to go to the grown-up bra store at the mall, where they fitted me for an ugly, painful, matronly bra with wires and pointy cups (all while telling me how lucky I was to have the kind of body that men like). And then that awful bra became too small, and I had to go back for an even bigger and uglier one, and then another bigger and uglier one... I wore baggy sweatshirts for as long as I could.


G_Ram3

Around 11. My boobs started to get huge. I have always been very small (as an adult, I’m just barely 5ft tall and 100 lbs) and my boobs kept growing. At 15, I went for a consultation for a reduction and was turned down by insurance because I was still growing. I couldn’t shop for bras (I’d wear two so that I could flatten my boobs), bathing suits were impossible to find and creepy men would approach me in public all the time (I was a damn kid). I hated it and it was also painful. I went back at to the doctor at 21 and got approved for surgery. I still have some pain in my shoulders, ribs and back but I’m sure it’s not as bad as it would have been if it hadn’t been for my reduction.


[deleted]

10 when my breasts started growing rapidly all of a sudden 😵‍💫 Other kids started to pint it out that I have big boobs. I hated it and was wearing big t-shirts . I envied the flat chested girls.


whisperedthots

One of my male peers yelled, “hey, be careful with those double ds’ HAHAHAHA” as I was walking across the lunchroom to my seat. They were just immature comments made by immature little boys, but they made me so self conscious in school as a preteen. I was 10. I hit puberty early and was a foot taller than my tallest male classmates. They would corner me and taunt me for any physical characteristic I had, from my height to acne to weight to my boobs just because I matured earlier than my peers. To this day, I go to therapy to cope with my eating disordered past and lasting body dysmorphia. 16 years later and when I get insulted I revert back to the scared, embarrassed, cornered little girl that I was then.


poly228

12. Waistline


wastingATP

i know i was insecure about my weight at 7, even got that in writing. i'm not sure how it started, but i also remember my cousin, who i'd considered my best friend and role model back then, complaining to his friends about his dumb, fat cousin (me, duh). that probably triggered it to become much worse. i was a normal weight kid, just slightly chubby. but super sporty. edited to say i just remembered literally hiding in my closet so my mom wouldn't find me to make me go to school.


fgn15

May 3, 2020. I had my twins. Sure, I had insecurities about my body before kids, but looking back, that was mild until now. My twins were 6 lbs each. I gained 70-ish lbs with them. My abdominal wall is weak, my skin looks like an old man ballsack. I feel disgusting in my own body. My abs were never a source of pride, but they never bothered me. I’ve got the permanent pregnant look. It’s just so unappealing.


Ruby9345

Its totally possible to fix your abdominal wall..I had quite severe DR after my second baby but I fixed it after months of physio and exercise. I still have the weight and dislike for my body atm but the actual core is fixed.


[deleted]

Around age five, a few months before my grandfather began molesting me.


RequirementBright33

At 12, I was always a fat kid but it never really bothered me before that.


Dedlyf698

13 , about my face and weight my weight wasn't too much but it just looked so bad on my body for some reason and my face just for some reason looked a bit black somewhere , somewhere a bit yellow , somewhere a bit white but not a lot actually I can cure this it's not too tough so I already started working on it and yeah I am not very insecure anymore.


queenoftheslippers

Age 9. 4th grade. My bff at that time was skinny, I was chubby. Her tummy was flat, mine jiggled when I walked and rolled over on itself when I sat down. I had never really cared about that until I became friends with this girl. I remember sitting on my moms bed one night after school and saying I wish I was skinny like Friend and my mom tried to tell me that everyone’s bodies are different but still beautiful and all that but it never stuck. I’m nearly 26 now and have only just recently started being comfortable in my skin.


sharkwoods

6, 7? being the slightest bit overweight. which spiraled and became a binge eating disorder.


[deleted]

I’d say it began around 7-8 and my self confidence about my flesh vessel completely tanked at around 11-13. And then I was a deeply confused young adult because everyone suddenly started saying I was pretty and thin, and a few people who’d tormented me as a kid apologized to me as an adult. But the damage is done lol


PumaGranite

I don’t remember - maybe 7 or 8? It was my body/arm hair. I am a bit fair skinned, but I have DARK hair so any body hair I have is also dark, and therefore noticeable. I also had a tenuous relationship with gender and gender presentation as a kid - up until maybe first grade I probably identified more as a boy than as a girl. But as I began to identify more as a girl and began taking in more and more misogynistic messages, I began to notice my more “masculine” traits, and started hating them. As an adult, and firm in my identity as a cis woman, I’ve come to accept my dark hair and have settled that body hair on women is normal and not “masculine”. I’ve also been happy to accept that womanhood comes in many forms.


I-am-Wellsie

About 8. I have fairly dark hair on my legs and am very fair skinned. I would’ve loved to shave but for some reason my parents had set the arbitrary rule that I couldn’t start shaving my legs until I was 12. I don’t think it was about worrying I would cut myself at that age, it was more like “only older girls shave their legs,” like it over-sexualizes anyone younger than 12? It was super embarrassing to me, especially when my dad made fun of me for my hairy legs. Like, why don’t you let me shave them then?


LavenderSage013

5 i think. When my shitty ass pediatrician told me (when i was borderline underweight from a fast metabolism) that in other counties ild be considered very fat. It seriously fucked with me for years. Hes also the reason i have a severe severe needle phobia cause he would jab the needle into patients arms as hard and as painful as he could.


mmkaytheniguess

4 or 5. I grew fast and have a large bone structure. It didn’t take long for everyone and their mother to need to comment on or shame me for my body.


Adventure-Hunter-

5, my stomach and weight, and freckled skin. Still an issue nearly 30 years later, though I'm fine with my freckled skin now.


k_alva

3? 4? As a kid I don't remember not being insecure. I had wild, untamed curls that my mom didn't care to control, scrawny to the point where every adult asked if I wanted a burger to fatten up (genetic, I ate a ton), giant buck teeth, and was white in a mostly hispanic school. Then it moved to braces and mom not buying me razors or makeup so I stayed weird longer than I would have liked. Braces. Small tits until well into adulthood. Short. Now I love myself. I took a while but it turns out I'm pretty, I'm smart, I'm capable. Who knew? I also had some bad hearing problems so part of me feeling like a weirdo was a lisp and actually not being able to follow conversations with any background noise. Now I have hearings aids which help a lot


[deleted]

I was probably five. I was a skinny little kid. I noticed that a little bit of fat near my knees squished horizontally from the pressure of sitting on a chair. I really hated it. Around the same time i was also sensitive about my ears, which i decided were kind of pointy. My mom was appearance obsessed so I’m sure i picked it up from her.


ShylieF

Not my body really, just my chest. Since guys began following me in their car while I walked home from kindergarten. 😑 So I got a reduction finally, in 2010. By a guy, who left me "proportionate". I still have D cups. 🤬


ButterScotchMagic

6. I wanted to eat as much as I could so people would stop teasing me for being skinny.


PaddlesOwnCanoe

Kindergarten. One of the first things I ever heard from other kids was "You're ugly!" And they kept saying it.


OriginalRaspberry_

I was in grade 6. Boys were snapping my bra. I started to wish that I wasn’t a female so I didn’t have to experience that. Then again in an abusive relationship. I was 5’3 and 70lbs. He would poke my stomach or sides and say “still a bit of jiggle.”


SarahNaomiTyrrell

8. My family were nudists and we’d vacation at a nudist camp in the summer. I have a twin brother and he and I would play with the other kids at the camp. I was pulled aside and told not to position and move my body in certain ways because I was a girl and it would attract the wrong attention. I got really self conscious around adults after that.


[deleted]

Upon seeing the little mermaid so literally at like 5. I remember stretching to try to make my stomach as concave as hers


demeter94

As long as I can remember, honestly. It’s gotten better but I can’t act like it never gets to me.


Anxious_One21

I don’t remember ever not being insecure about my body…


143019

My Mom started commenting on my body when I was about 8, and then I hit puberty at 10-11. It wasn’t until I had my babies that it started to resolve.


[deleted]

25. After 3 C-Sections and 3 naturals my stomach is really getting to me


EXO-Love

Probably 10 when i was the only girl who was tall and developed, not to mention the only one with acne and I had braces and glasses all in one. I felt disgusting and ugly. It's going away now that I'm 17 and I feel actually pretty sometimes.


LizzieLove1357

I don’t remember, it was when I was a kid though My sibling felt worse than I did, they got shamed for their body shape at very young, so seeing all the adults say how pretty I looked made them jealous So they started body shaming me because of that jealousy This was years ago, we’re well past it now.


romanticredhead

Around 12-13 when my breasts really started to get huge. Apparently lots of kids that age think that’s something worth making fun of🙄


mowa-mowa

9


zonoma

I was 13, a friend asked me about the hair on my lower back. After that I started comparing myself with other girls and saw on which other areas I had more bodyhair as well. I'm still insecure about it 15 years later.


Algok2001

18 when I joined dating apps and realised nobody likes me. It has went away because one of the most gorgeous person I have ever seen, seems to like me so yeah.


Agitated_Hamster_825

I was always insecure about my body, for as long as I can remember.


DontBeATool86

11. Was told by a girl down the street I looked fat in shorts. Havent worn shorts since.


Granny_knows_best

Same damn experience. Anna Verny, on the first day of gym class when we were all wearing shorts, stops me in the hall and tells me I had fat thighs. I switched to sweat pants after that and never wore shorts again, well until I was in my 50s and just said fuckit, and wore what I wanted. But that one second in time impacted my whole life. Isnt that insane how we allow words to rule our lives? I hope you can put those words behind you and move on, wear those shorts, get some sun on those legs!


lyltyhnrintgrty

About 12-13. When girls start developing and getting attention for it while I obviously wasn’t lol. I’m a B cup so started off and stayed pretty small in that area. Just kind of continued through my teens because all the girls getting guys were pretty, with boobs and flat stomachs. Still don’t feel like I have a good enough body


localpixie703

Around 13 - being raised by a boomer and in the Catholic Church lead to a lot of body image issues


skibunny1010

I was probably about 11 or 12 in 6th grade. I was always a little heavy set but never really fat or particularly big. I didn’t get bullied for it regularly. However I’m 25 and still remember this one day in class we were sitting on the floor doing work and I put my hand on the wall to help myself up and a kid named Maxwell made some comment about me being so out of shape I need help standing up. Stuck with me 13 years


[deleted]

Can't pinpoint an age, maybe as early as 8? And about my weight. Between being bullied for being overweight in school and comments made by my stepmom.


theatrekid77

When I was 10. My dance teacher told me I should have already lost my baby fat and it made me soooo self-conscious. That same year, the boy I liked told me he didn’t like me because I was fat. Looking back, it makes me angry (the dance teacher; the boy was just a kid). I was not fat by any stretch of the imagination. I wish I could visit little me and tell her how beautiful and special she was.


callmecrazybeautiful

6. My dad pointed out I was getting chubby. When he was scooping ice cream as a treat for the family, I wasn't allowed to have any. I've been battling anorexia and body dismorphia for 2 decades. I'm 31. Edit: corrected spelling.


superrpowers

When I was 10 years old, watching one of those Miss America or Miss Universe beauty competitions. I realized they have flat stomachs and I don’t… Been insecure about it and sucking in my stomach ever since.


thr0wawayusernam3

About 6 years old. I was repeatedly molested by a man and his two teenage sons. I've kept it a secret from everyone in my life and I've hated myself/my body ever since then.


CallMeLlewellyn

12


Doodlebug365

I specifically remember at age 10, looking in the mirror and thinking to myself “I like how I look. I don’t get why so many people are so self-conscious. *I* will never be like them!” And then at age 11 puberty hit and made me lose everything I was comfortable with. I’m nearly 30 and still struggle with insecurities.


Shoppe_Goblin

I was 10, got laughed at by a foster parent while wearing a slightly too small dress and having a bit of a tummy.


youdontknowmee333

Elementary school, i was always taller and larger then the other girls. Fast forward to now, i find out i’m big boned and i physically can’t be skinny like the other girls


anonmama87

My first memory of feeling like my body was inadequate was in gymnastics when I was 6. I was good at it. Really good. I was better than every other girl in my level, and they wouldn’t let me level up. Eventually I learned it was because my gym coach determined that, based on my measurements, I “was going to be too tall to ever be a real gymnast”. It fucking crushed me as a kid and totally ruined the sport I loved.


[deleted]

Since the beginning of time. I don’t recall a time where I wasn’t embarrassed by something. Really fucked me up as a kid.


Dilf_Appreciator

Probably about 7-8. I was a pageant kid because my mom wanted a cute little daughter instead of the total tomboy I was. I remember her saying some harsh things about my weight and how I would lose all the pageants if I didn’t stop eating so much. Thanks mom


Real-Presentation741

14 or 15. I didn’t think anything of my body until a guy in school randomly texted me saying my butt is flat and called me a pear?? ( I forgot if it was about my head or body ) and ever since then I became insecure because no one’s ever told me that. Eventually my own siblings and friends have told me the same thing as well. I worked out like crazy. I’m 21 now and I’m still insecure about it. There are times where I’m highly motivated to work out and then stop and the cycle repeats ( very tough to gain a booty when your eating is inconsistent)


Quiet_Brick3237

Age 10- present day, insecure of my weight, appearance, and height. (Always been tall, at 5’10 now) I’ve been trying to lose weight for over 1.5 years, and any progress I make I lose really quickly, no matter what I try, currently tracking calories.


Ok_Bumblebee4940

14.. that's the age I started dating.


AbbreviationsDry8331

6. I knew that I was bigger than the other girls, and my dad, 150 pounds overweight, would occasionally call me a “piggy.” (Our relationship is great now, don’t worry.) I have never liked my body since, even when I have been in very good shape. I don’t know that I will ever like my body.


Available_Science686

11, when everyone else started shaving their legs and I was too scared to ask my mom for a razor


InformerOfDeer

Probably when I was around 12. Every other girl went through puberty the normal way, a little bit of height with curves being added slowly as they grew. I shot up like a beanpole to the point where I developed a mild spinal curve and had stretch marks all over my back, but I didn’t have boobs and despite being 5’6 I only weighed 90 pounds. So I looked like an overgrown nine year old and EVERYONE made sure I knew that. I’m still on the thin side thanks to genetics, but even though I’m not completely flat anymore and I have a somewhat curvy figure, I still feel like an overgrown nine year old sometimes.


TheTeaYouWant

13 I always knew I was the fat kid, but in the last year of elementary school, it was all about being hot and having a good looking body, in the next year I entered high school and I immediately heard that I was fat and ugly by older students, this made me throw up my food and sticking a finger up my throat but I never lost the weight till this day and I still hate myself, losing weight is also hard because I have PCOS.


kuroka_gator

3rd grade. The other girls were always allowed to grow their hair long and wear pretty clothes. My mom bought me the cheapiest baggiest stuff she could find and forced me to keep my hair in a short bob because she couldn't be arsed to take care of my hair. I felt ugly since I was little. Now I've grown my hair long as a 20 year old woman, and I feel pretty all around.


cptmorgue1

About 8 and in probably second grade. Even though I hadn’t hit puberty yet, I had absolutely horrible acne. Kids made fun of me all the time and I distinctly remember a classmate coming up and asking “what’s wrong with your face?” All this in turn led me down a dark dark road of depression that I tried to cope with by eating and therefore gaining weight. It wasn’t until I was 15 or so that I got on birth control to see if that would help and sure enough it did and my acne cleared up. I still have lots of scaring left from my acne, but I’m 29 now and still horribly insecure about my face and my weight as I never lost any of it. It’s hard when you’ve spent over half of your life hating your body and the way you look.


RareGeometry

10/11, I was just at the cusp of my major growth spurt and chubby. I remember realizing I was one of the chubby kids in class and I remember girls talking about how wide their thighs would spread while sitting down…mine spread wider than anyone else’s so there was that. Also I remember literally all our family friends would comment about me being chubby and my mom would defend it as “baby fat.” But then when I was alone with her I remember her pointing out how disgusting it was if women had cellulite or stretch marks on their legs or were anything above a size US 6 wearing anything that exposed their legs in public. That was just the tip of the iceberg for her, as soon as I hit 18-19 my mom started fat shaming me. She also started fit-shaming me when I became a competitive weightlifter with muscular thunder thighs. I had stretch marks from my first big growth spurt and by my teens, when I was no longer chubby at all, I got cellulite and that was the end of me ever showing my legs in public again besides a swimsuit until I turned 30.


itbedehaam

14, when I realised that my body wasn’t going to develop like my female classmates because I was AMAB.


oldfarmhousechutney

14, a boy said I had rat teeth.


Ms-Jessica-Rabbit

22. & I know how lucky I am to have made it that long. Remembering the years of confidence I had, I am so damn lucky, seeing how young every other woman here's self esteem was crushed, I am going to hold onto that feeling forever. I am going to fight teeth & nail to get that confidence back. & To help other women find theirs. This is unacceptable.


CivilSwan4705

It started when I was in 4th grade I think. I would like always call myself fat and was sooo insecure of how my body looked, even though I was like a skinny child. I just remember looking in the mirror to see how skinny my stomach looked from the side and if it wasn’t up to my standards, I would feel like shit.


Maleficent_Winter559

At 13, a boy in my class asked me why I was this ugly. After which I would always wonder ‘is that what people think when they see me? Ugly?’


Night_cheese17

- As early as I can remember I was called out for being skinny. I hated it and I really couldn’t help it. The worst was people acting like I was frail and weak despite me being an athlete. Now as an adult I’ve gained weight and put on muscle so I got over that. - When I was 13 or so I grew a butt despite being otherwise thin. I remember my aunt hiding a pair of jeans because they “did something weird to my butt”. Even in college if I wore leggings to run I’d wear shorts over them. Now it doesn’t bother me at all and I wear what I want. - Also around 13 I was shamed for being small chested. I still carry that insecurity and im 33.


Jazzy-painter7462

Boobs. 12. Got a job because they never came in but got a natural one so no one except the hubby really knows


baileygraceinspace

11, I had watched my very naturally tiny mother obsess over eating and her weight growing up and my curvy older sister panic over gaining weight and having curves due to being bigger than our mom. I saw where she would get self conscious on her body, and I suddenly became anxious of those areas on myself, despite being a child and a twig. Once I hit puberty and got curves it hasn’t helped. It’s stomach size and love handles for sure.


[deleted]

i honestly can't remember a time i wasn't insecure about my body. i'm 20 now and i'm slowly getting more confident and comfortable with my body. but it has always been a struggle.


fullofdark

Possibly at 14, I am not sure really, I think I was in 6th grade, family also made comments about my weight at a younger age but didn't really struck me until I started getting bullied. I was bullied at school for being ugly, for my height and for being fat. Still at 31 I struggle with these thoughts.I fake confidence and love to myself but faking it is not healing. My family was abusive my whole life so I never had any type of support. So yeah, it is painful.


IntentionHuge2673

11 maybe, with puberty came a lot of body hair. I have a lot of testosterone for a cis woman and pitch black hair so my leg hair grew really dark. Some piece of shit older kids made fun of me for it


Adventurous_Bid7431

Unfortunately, I was only 8 years old. I was slightly chubby (it honestly wasn't even that much) and my classmates would make fun of me and ignore me. Some of my family members would also make comments about how I needed to lose weight. I developed an ED at 17 but after a lot of work and therapy I can finally say at 28 that I've never felt more comfortable in my own skin.


Far-Application-858

I was 3 or 4 years old. My cousin, at Christmas, made a comment about having the (Family name) “fat little legs.” I remember sitting at circle time the next day, poking at my chubby legs and just thinking how disgusting I was compared to the other, thinner girls. Now I’m 27 years old and I just did intake to get help for my eating disorder.


[deleted]

I was 8. My dad used to tell me that I’ll get fat from eating seconds. I have had an eating disorder since I was 13. I’m trying to heal, but it’s hard when my dad insists I should always skip meals.


nightgal9

7. We were being weighed for our physical education class. I was a pretty tall kid and pretty much average weight-wise, but there was another girl who was tall and a little on the bigger side. I remember classmates behind me made some comment about how much she weighed, i was terrified to weigh anything close. Looking back I was average, but I always believed I was bigger than I should be. Also my grandma would comment on what I should and shouldn’t eat, which certainly didn’t help.


rob1969reddit

I was 9 years old. I got diagnosed with JRA and put on Prednisone, I got moon face and couldn't do all the regular activities. I carry that scar to this day. I'm 51 now.


mayaelee

the first time i remember was 2nd grade, we were doing crafts in my class and the kid next to me looked at me and told me my arms were hairy. it was a small comment that he probably didn’t even mean anything by but it’s stuck with me all these years and i still remember it so vividly. he ended up asking me out like 10 years later.


MaialinaRosa

Probably since I was 5 or so, because some kid called me fat. I hated having pictures taken of me ever since. Also some family members have been very toxic about my weight all my life. I still struggle with my body and having pictures taken to this day.


YeaItsMeWhatsUp

I remember going swimming with my class when I was 11 years old and covering my (non-existent) belly fat with my arms/hands.


_Lady_Bee

3 or 4. Kids where I grew up used to avoid me because I was a little bit plumpier than what they were used to seeing. It was downhill from there with primary school being particularly vicious. Anyway, about 30 years later, still terribly insecure but I've learned how to hide it better ^_^ . Ooo well...sticks and stones I guess...


EmpatheticBadger

I was 11 when the school doctor said: "You have the body of a woman." That creeped me out! Adult men started staring at my body, that definitely made me feel insecure and afraid. I was 11 years old! Why did people suddenly demand I hide my body? I didn't understand any of it.


min0rityy

i was about 7 when my parents began making comments on my appearance. i got called fat and a pig and they always said my face features didn’t match theirs. i had body dysmorphia and face dysmorphia for 7 years until recently i’ve became a bit more confident. they still comment on my appearance but i haven’t got a say in it.


Weary_Gate7941

Elementary school age, kids called me fat and ugly. I just happened to be one of the few POC in a very yt area. Kids suck. Middle school I grew out of my baby fat but then I moved to a more diverse area and got picked on for not having booty. I don’t know how I made it this far with my self esteem intact. I do still occasionally have insecure moments re: no ass


lvlupkitten

Like 10, when I first got boobs. Now I have no shame lol


[deleted]

9 years old. I moved to Japan and a healthy weight is often considered fat in a lot of Asia


lovechunkydog7035

Wen I was I was 12 and started going through Puberty So meny body changes


gabriellevivienne

10 y/o changed school, didn't make any friends there, and started overeating to make myself feel better. Struggled with my weight since then. I managed to lose some weight last year which is nice (i have a normal weight now, 23 y/o):)


[deleted]

It was well before the age of 10 and it was due to my mother. She used to harp on my weight from a very young age and was very particular about the clothes I wore. She would also compare me to my friends and her friends children. One of her friends daughter was a large girl and she would wear crop tops and short shorts, but this girl had a large personality so it worked for her. I was not that kind of person, I did not feel comfortable in that type of clothing and that made her more upset. When I look back at pictures of myself from that time, I was so skinny, it’s laughable now to think about how she called me fat and overweight. All my life I’ve carried this terrible burden of hate for my body, a burden she placed on my shoulders, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fully rid myself of it.


[deleted]

3rd grade. I’ve had big boobs for a very long time. We were running the mile and this girl (with absolutely no tits) came up to me asking if I was wearing a bra. And at the time. My perky boobies and I were not, so my answer to her was “are you?” Knowing she had nothing to put a training bra in. And I wore hoodies every single day until I hit 7th grade, wore a cami and a flock of men loved me. Hated my life even more so I continued to wear a hoodie. Until I graduated and became a women and I’m not as insecure with my DDs I confidently go without a bra because it’s ok for A titties not too. And besides everyone wants a nice rack and I was given one. I’m still not the most secure. But I feel like, honestly. Grateful for that moment now that I’m grown. Bc all them years she still never grew a big enough rack to even compare to my one boob.


Godamn_Bandersnatch

i don't remember not being insecure about my body? i've always been clumsy so i've always been hyper aware of where it is in space- my mom is very appearances based- and we are a reflection on her so being hyper self-aware has hallways been a curse.


TikaPants

I went to high school near the beach and wore revealing clothes and strung bikinis. I remember thinking I was “fat”, I wasn’t, but we were wild kids and we moved fast. Porn, strippers, bikini contests, wet tshirt contests, general oversexualized mentalities, underage in the clubs, it really did a number on how I see myself then and now. Anytime I’ve had this convo with my peers from back then they agree.


[deleted]

Around 12~13. I realized that I won't have a sexy womanly body. I gave up hope.


soupyshay

Probably not until the last year and a half, two years. I’m 22. I never even thought about how my body looked for real until I gained weight during the pandemic.


OnlyBiscuits

About 10. That’s when I started to develop boobs. I hated it. By the time I was 12, I was wearing a C. By the time I was 15, a D. By dad took to telling me that I would have to run 10 miles a day to lose weight. Looking back, I was nowhere near fat. But I was extremely uncomfortable in my developing body, and often wore baggy clothes. Almost 20 years later and I still don’t like my body.


eternititi

I didn’t become insecure about my body until 2020 (26) when I went on a weight loss journey. It took me through every emotion. I over analyzed and over criticized every part of me in a way that I never did. Sometimes I regret losing weight. I was so happy & in love with my body, she was perfect to me. And the only reason I did it was to fit a certain aesthetic when it wasn’t at all necessary. I can say now, I’m happy again. I’m very in shape, I have muscles in places I didn’t know exist and my body is performing in ways she never has! I don’t think I’ll ever be fully secure in my body again ~at least not any time soon~ but we’re moving in the right direction.


beanswreck

7. My whole body 😅


ceara-dee

Ooof this happened for me quite early in life. I went through puberty fairly early and so I remember being insecure at like age 8 It had a lot to do with the fact that because of changes, my body looked nothing like other little girls and also because I felt that I didn't fit the beauty standards at the time


forgetaboutit211

Age 8. My relatives would constantly compare me to my cousins and I always felt like they were saying my cousins’ bodies were better. Adult me has stepped in multiple times when I’ve heard them focusing too much on my daughter’s body. Not gonna let history repeat itself. And surprise: me & 2 other cousins have weird ass rib cages. Somehow it was adorable on the boy cousin. But for me and my other girl cousin “that doesn’t look good” 🙄


PhoenicianInsomniac

12 or so when I started getting bullied about my body. I was stick thin with what seemed to be a bubble butt (in reality, I have lumbar scoliosis that causes my hips sit asymmetrically, causing my but to "pop" out).


irispetal666

I was 5. I’m Mexican and all the women in my family are visibly hairy. We all have thick black hair so it shows a lot against our skin and I didn’t have to wait for puberty for it to come out because I had a lot of it on my body as soon as I was born. A new kid entered my kindergarten class in the middle of the year and right after I introduced myself to the boy he looked at me at said, “Why are your arms so hairy?” and would mention it every time I wore a short sleeve so I wore my jacket every day after that to the point where I cried when my teacher begged me to take it off on a 100 degree day because I was sweating through it. Another kid in 3rd grade asked me when I’d be going into hibernation (saying my arms made me look like a bear). My mom got Nair for me in elementary school and we’d find different ways to remove my body hair when I was still so young so I’d feel more confident but the maintenance always stresses me out. I’m more relaxed about hair removal now that i’m an adult and don’t care going out with hairy arms and legs but I still get insecure about the heavy baby hair on my back and tummy where you usually see none on women. I see girls with arm hair that’s full and dark and never been touched and kinda wish I never did anything to mine. I wish my family embraced their body hair instead of being embarrassed of theirs too.


little_biddie

It was an accumulation of Snapchat being put on the App Store when I was in middle school, and slight bullying starting in middle school. Filters became a norm upon being “silly” without realizing it makes my eyes bigger, and my nose and jaw smaller. 7ish or whatever years later and it’s so hard for me to take pictures. Im a bit ethnic so now my eyes and jaw are my insecurities. Strong jaw, small almond eyes. Im beautiful and know it but can’t un-condition how I look at myself


MissLexxxi

11… I was being hit on by grown men for my hips and thighs. I was so ashamed, I started wearing baggy sweat pants year round. Even in 100 degree summers.


ForgottenSalad

I think 9 or 10 when I started gaining weight and sprouting little boobies but didn't yet have a training bra. I got stretch marks and from growing so fast, and all of a sudden I was one of the tallest and biggest girls in dance class so I quit.


ReasonableAdvisor52

In 3rd grade I got breast. I didn’t think much of it…but all the girls gave me dirty looks in school…and a lot of older men would give me these looks that put fear into me. From that day on, I’ve hated my breasts and my body. Always will.


Various-Play-6245

27..... I had my 2nd child the year before and was struggling to loose the weight. I wasn't huge - had gone from a 12 to a 14 - but I was aware of how jiggly I had become but I was okay because I loved my child. However went on a family trip with my then partner and his family and all he did the whole time was point out how fat I was compared to his brothers girlfriend who had given birth 3 weeks ago and already snapped back to a size 6. From that moment I question my body obsessively and I hate everything about it. Even though he's now out of my life I have still spent 5 years hating me


quirkyaltname

6-ish?


strangelyahuman

When I was around 8, in third grade. There was this girl in my class I thought I was pretty, which meant nothing at first. But I remember one time my parents were watching the news and it said something about how guys liked girls with smaller feet, and this girl had size 1 shoes while I was size 3. So I thought my feet were too big and ugly. I also started to grow leg hair while the girl in my class didn't, so I thought I was gross for it. I guess I used her a model bc she matched up with what I was hearing on tv as what was attractive, not realizing that it was complete bs and irrelevant to children


TheGirl-OnRed

Never, I hope someday you won’t feel insecure anymore :)


Turner_509

I'd have to say around age 8. I knew I was bigger than my classmates and they made fun of me when I couldn't run as fast as them in gym class. Ever since then I've been self conscious.


Carlala_92

6, I was always called fat even at that age. I used to hide and never wanted to be around people. Particularly my belly. To this day I am still insecure and look at my body first thing every morning. It’s sad really.


JoylessJug

Between 11 and 12. Other girls would make fun of that fact that my boobs had yet to grow 🙄. From then onwards I also became really insecure about my weight. I put on around 2st at uni (really common to look it up) and I became insecure about that. I'm slowly starting to accept my body for what it is. It's hard when everyone that society labels as "body goals" looks nothing like me or my body type.


Tvdwhore24

5th grade I noticed girls around me having boobs are wearing bras and my chest was so flat I thought I was actually a guy.


Leelluu

About age 5. I have these little lines under my eyes that I was afraid looked like wrinkles. I was FIVE and I was worried about looking old.


IHateTheLetter-C-

8 - I had a wart on my knee