Comments on: How Many Calories Are In That Gerber Applesauce?

By: Lolita

Lolita — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:16:54 +0000

I remember, regardless of what /anyone/ (parents, family, friends, teachers, /strangers/ told me) I thought I was the ugliest thing known to man. That I had to over compensate; be braver, smarter, nicer, more patient, more accommodating-more /everything/ than anyone else in order to get people to be able to stand me. From about the same age (3-6).
I’ve just now started getting out of it (well, the ugly bit the rest as not changed) and I’m 21. .

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 31 May 2011 05:38:44 +0000

@Holly my mom did the same thing too she always told me I was smart and beautiful and I didn’t start going against that until about middle school but that was mainly because I was more awkward than a newborn Giraffe…but now (im sixteen) I could really care less

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:56:44 +0000

This is an issue that has so much to do with parenting and role models. Of course, society and the media are always partially to blame, but for girls that young moms are essential. Miraculously, I got all the way to 8th grade without worrying too much about my weight or associating food with guilty feelings, like I do now. While a good metabolism probably helped, my mom’s constant praise and encouragement made me love myself in a healthy way. She always told me I was smart, beautiful, special, etc. etc. I can’t remember her ever complaining about her appearance more than an occasional groan at the beginning of swimsuit season. Now at age 19 I have struggles with my weight, but more importantly I have the underlying self-confidence my mom helped instill in me from a young age.

By: How many calories are in that Gerber applesauce? « Stand Up Stand Up

How many calories are in that Gerber applesauce? « Stand Up Stand Up — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:04:26 +0000

[...] many calories are in that Gerber applesauce? Jump to Comments My good friend Becka wrote this article for the feminist blog, The FBomb. It’s fantastic. She writes about body image in women and girls and how young girls, even ages [...]

By: Lolli

Lolli — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:56:17 +0000

When I was eight, I’ve started wanting purple hair. I don’t see what this has with not accepting my body image through the eyes of the society, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the little girls debating their hair colour weren’t the “zomg blonde is hawt and trendy”, but instead the imaginative and creative. I agree with the criticism of weight issues, though.

By: Steph

Steph — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:59:59 +0000

@Toon: I’m totally the same. I was offering some of my classmates part of a cake that I’d made for a project (best class EVER, btw), and of the four other girls, only one took any, and that was only AFTER I told her that it was good and healthy and such. Preposterous, that packaged ‘diet food’ could be seen as better than homemade cooking, full of love and deliciousness.

Also, whenever stuff like this is discussed, it is perhaps one of the very few reasons I enjoy being trans – I WASN’T raised with these perceptions and attitudes, so I can see just how plain ridiculous they are. My cousins and classmates, though – I feel and see just how fucking hard it is.

By: Toongrrl

Toongrrl — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:28:58 +0000

I always make it clear to my younger cousins that food is delicious. I just hope they don’t join in the “fat talks” with my mom, aunts, and older cousins, ever. The last time that happened I stole a page from Daria and said: “When’s dessert? I want to talk about nose jobs!”
No one saw that as a joke and failed to realize that, they told ME that we have perfect noses.

By: N.Gin

N.Gin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:39:56 +0000

It is terribly upsetting that it affects girls so young. Kids shouldn’t be even concerned about the look of their bodies too much, because they don’t really need to be..well,attractive to anyone.

And everyone is wondering why 13-14 year olds have no self-respect and no innocence anymore.

By: ashleyL

ashleyL — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:57:52 +0000

I agree completely… my partner just asked me when I started to think about dieting and such, and I couldn’t give him an exact year. It’s always been with me. Scary stuff.
Chica… please I beg… words like “mankind” are damaging – the fact that feminists use them in discourse shows just how hardcore they have become ingrained, and it takes a conscious effort, but every time you use words like mankind, a few feminists cry.

By: Valerie B.

Valerie B. — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:46:24 +0000

I agree!! My godsister has a mother who always criticizes everything about herself to a point where she’s a beanpole. My godsister has sort of a contorted view: she’s grown up (she must’ve been one of these worried toddlers) around criticism and being critiqued. She has tons of self-hate and low self esteem, no matter how many times her friends compliment her eyes, or her writing skills, or her humor: she still believes she’s ugly and its sad.