A woman has shared her shocking experience with body shaming at a friend’s birthday party, which ended with her being slapped in the face.
The woman “dreads” attending her friend’s birthday gatherings due to constant comments about her weight by her friend’s close pal, Amanda.
On Reddit, she revealed Amanda makes relentless remarks like ‘you’re so skinny!’, ‘do you even eat?’, ‘does your [boyfriend] care that you don’t have curves?’ and ‘your legs are like sticks!’ These comments touch on her “worst insecurities”, leading her to consider skipping the event altogether.
However, her mother advised her to treat Amanda’s comments as compliments, and respond with, “Thanks! I love being skinny.” If Amanda is “disappointed” by this response, her mum believed it proved she was trying to “insult” her.
The woman thought this was “great advice”, but failed to mention to her mother that “Amanda was overweight”. This led to a dramatic confrontation at the party.
On Reddit, she detailed the incident, writing: “The dreaded birthday party day comes. And of course, no surprise, Amanda immediately looks at my arms and comments how tiny they are. I ignored this comment.
“Then later on in the day, we were standing in a group together and she was eyeing me up and down. She chuckled to herself and says, ‘God, you’re so skinny.’ And I thought, ‘ok here it is. Here is my moment.’ I turned to her, smiled and said, ‘Thanks. I love being skinny.'”
This led to an unexpected reaction as Amanda slapped her “in the face”. She went on: “I was in complete shock, just staring back at her, mouth hanging open with my hand on my cheek. Everyone was silent. She suddenly bursts into tears and runs out of the room. Two of her friends chase her. Only one other girl and my childhood friend asked if I was okay, but everyone else was just shooting me dirty looks.”
The following day, the woman faced criticism for her response. She explained: “The next day, I was texting with my childhood friend about it. She basically thinks that even though Amanda shouldn’t have slapped me, that I was insensitive for saying ‘I love being skinny’ to a plus size person.
“I argued that Amanda has been consistently insensitive to me every party. And I didn’t comment on her body, only my own. She told me that it’s different because being skinny is socially acceptable, and that Amanda wouldn’t usually do something like this but I triggered her with my ‘insult’.”
Online community members on Reddit showed understanding for her situation, blasting Amanda’s behaviour. One commenter expressed support by saying: “Amanda had it coming with all those rude comments, she just couldn’t handle the heat.”
One person queried: “Why was it ‘OK’ for Amanda to body shame OP? Answer… it wasn’t. Wtf cares about more socially acceptable to be skinny comment, it’s not true.”
Meanwhile, another added fuel to the discussion by asserting: “Not only did she expect her to take the verbal abuse but then she tried to justify her PHYSICAL ABUSE.”
So what’s your verdict on the matter? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below.