(Sorry if this gets a tad bit long)

Until today, I liked to think that I didn’t really have a story of “fat-shaming” or anything of the sort. Sure there were occasional times in my life when I felt that my body size was being put down by my cousins or such, but it was never something that I couldn’t just shrug off.

Today I went to the local Renaissance Faire with a friend of mine, her boyfriend and brother. In general, I had a great time. There were amazing costumes being worn and if one wanted to acquire an awesome costume, they did not have to be a size 0. There were actually quite a few sellers who sold larger sized garments that were not only stylish but colorful and fun.

The downfall of the day was the friend. She matches the standard of what is good looking–thin, pretty, etc. If the two of us went clothes shopping, she would have absolutely no problem finding clothes that fit whereas I would have some difficulty.

During this entire time at the faire, she would make comments like “I feel so fat,” “I’m too chubby,” “I look terrible.” These were scattered throughout the entire day and it grated on me badly.

Now, while I’ve never been thin, prescriptions have made this worse with easily gaining weight and struggling to lose it. I haven’t been happy with my body for a while now because of all this and having to hear someone who is quite apparently healthy and is considered by many to be pretty and “perfect.”

She continued with her comments, seemingly making them “okay” by saying she was referring only to herself. This came when I apparently had a look of disbelief on my face at the comment. That really didn’t make it better.