In the age of the 'body beautiful,' everyone is learning (some are learning the hard way) what it is and isn't appropriate to tell people about their appearances.
A mother named Megan Naramore Harris recently took to Facebook to post a message about something she thought was particularly out of line.
The comment that she took issue with was made by a sales assistant to her 13-year-old daughter.
According to Megan, she took her daughter to a shop to try on some dresses for an upcoming dance and the shop's salesperson: '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 [the sales assistant] that she was just fine without SPANX.'
Megan went on to explain exactly why she had taken issue with this, citing her daughter's list of achievements and the need as adults to shape the teenage mindset in as positive a way as possible:
'My daughter is tall, she swims, runs, dances and does yoga,' Megan said, 'She’s fit. She’s beautiful. She did not need you telling her that she is not perfect. . . You never know what negative or positive thoughts [teenagers] are thinking about themselves.'
You can read Megan's whole post below:
From our perspective, the sales assistant is not where the problem starts and ends, but rather he or she is part of a much bigger cultural issue. There is a mindset that still sees us idolise the slender frame over and above everything else and encourages us to hate the parts of our bodies that don't feel 'perfect.'
Let us know what you thought of Megan's Facebook post on Twitter @ELLEUK!
[All images: Facebook / Megan Naramore Harris]
Natasha Bird is the Former Executive Editor (Digital) of ELLE.
