My mom used to be harsh and called me fat and ugly growing up and that boys won't like me because of how I look.
But then she 'mellowed' some and said that if I only lost some weight, I'll look much better (this is in high school when she 'mellowed' LOL).
I was never overweight (always on healthy weight and yes, I was never considered small-frame amongst my peers, plus I was the tallest girl at school), but according to her my frame made me carry my weight bad so it's better to be thinner.
And in college, girls and boys who were in US from my country would tease and chide me about my weight. Because although amidst people here in US think I look just fine, weight-wise.

Now I'm at a point where I'm happy with my weight and look (sure I'd love to tone up more--not lose more weight), but yeah, when I remember what my mom told me, it doesn't quite bother me anymore since now she's left me alone with my weight (except that she thinks I'm too 'skinny' now). Now I know I can't quite 'win' with her

I know it sounds stupid, but in middle school I was told that I had a flat butt and I became determined to make it bigger. I wanted to be sexy and curvy in the right places!

I am six foot two. Believe me when I say people comment on it a lot. Strangers ask me how tall I am several times a day. When I met my father in law, he asked my husband-then-boyfriend if he really wanted to be with someone as tall as me. It hurt my feelings quite a bit, actually.,

I used to feel really self conscious about it. But, then I get over it, try to remember that's it's what makes me unique and beautiful and wear four-inch heels anyway.

My mother used to and still does comment on my weight. To her when i was 140 pounds (I am 5'6) I was over weight. I am now 125 and I still don't think I measure up to her standards. Whenever i open the fridge i get a stare down.

I got called "Fat-n-Flat" and i always think of that- the girl who said it recently friended me on facebook and it is apparent that SHE got a boob job.

Yes. I got a bothersome comment from another classmate. I was about 14 years old. I filed this comment under "kids can be cruel," but I think there was a kernel of truth to it.

I was told by another 14-year-old (a boy) that I dressed like his Mom (meaning: I was dressed frumpy and unfashionable). Truthfully, I think he was right, AND it hurt my feelings. Unfortunately, at the time, my Mom controlled what I wore, and there was nothing I could do about it.

As a grown-up, that has completely changed. Now that I'm in charge of my wardrobe, I am fashionable, and my clothing is flattering, if I do say so myself.

I remember one of my mom's friends had been visiting and on her way out she gave me a hug and said I really need to start bleaching or waxing my upper lip. I was 13. seriously?! I didn't even know that was something people did, let alone consider it was a spot that shouldn't be hairy. It's not even that bad but ever since she said that I've been religious about waxing it. ugh. years later my mom admits her friend was terrible and never should have said something like that to me.

My fathers cousin would constantly compare me to her daughter. We were the same age, but her daughter was petite in the EXTREME. I was over a foot taller then her, and she was one of those bone thin kids. They were all very skinny and lean, and i took on my fathers more stocky italian frame around middle school, when we lived near them. I had always been a very thin and athletic child, so the switch that came with puberty with the more curvy body was a change i was still growing accustomed to, and becuase we moved so often, i had less friends and outside activities to use up my energy.

They liked to come over and in a living room full of relatives meticulously count the differences between us. Katrina you're how tall.. mmhmm, and you weigh how much.... mmhmm, Tammy only weighs this much.... hmmm.. on and on and on. Shoe size, clothing size, they just liked to try humiliate me and make me feel bad for not being teeny tiny like them. I hated them too much for it to hurt my feelings, but having to sit there through it all while they gloated with no one else saying anything was god awful. And my father wonders why my siblings and mother and I all hate visiting his side of the family.

I have a slight curve to my spin that causes my butt to stick out a little. In grade 1 during the gymnastics/tumble part of a gym class we were all laying flat on our tummies. A classmate commented that my butt stuck out more then anyone else's. After that, I never laid flat on my tummy in front of others.

i overheard my mother telling a relative that she always had known that i would have a fat ass.

at a christmas party.

My boyfriend and I were walking near his apartment last week, which is located in an, um, "diverse" section of the city. I'm used to getting comments from the random homeless men, but as I walked by a group of girls about my age, one of them said very loudly "that white girl got A**"! My initial reaction was to laugh, but then I was like "wow, it's really THAT big?!?!"

I gained a bit of weight in my first job right out of college. Sitting at a desk for eight hours instead of riding my bike around and getting exercise. Yowza, wasn't prepared for that. Even worse I wasn't prepared for the funny joke my coworkers spread about me being pregnant. Because why else would a young woman gain weight? I was devastated for months.

once, when i was a kid, my mom poked my stomach and told me that she didn't think that i should have any dessert that night. while that didn't affect me dramatically then and i just brushed off the comment, it stuck with me and i battled with an eating disorder in my teens, caused by comments like that and the feeling that i could not measure up to my parents' expectations. luckily, i am in a much better place now and i work everyday to take care of myself and be the best person i can be without feeling like i have to live up to anyone else's expectations.

When I hit puberty, which coincided with my fathers death, I gained a bit of weight. I was only 11-12 and everyone in my family, who are supper skinny, commented on my weight (every day). I was going through my fathers death, and having to move with my grandmother to a whole different state ( lets just say that living with my grandmother is worst than hell) so I guess I over eat to deal with my depression. When I move to the United States I gained even more weight. In 11 or 10th grade I lost most of the weight.I was never over weight, by the way, but I guess in Colombia not being anorexic looking is over weight.
People also comment on my height (I'm 5'0) to be honest I don't really let it affect me anymore. I can't change that, why kill myself over what I can't change?

I've gotten over it, but the thing is: for every time you hear you're ugly, it might take a thousand "you're beautiful"s to to even out. So I never say anything negative or backhanded about anyone.

I had put oon around 80 lbs ( I was depressed) and an old man asked me when I was due.

I got rid of that shirt and cried for the next hour and a half on bart.

There are some cruel parents/adults.

I was teased by my siblings and classmates for being too skinny I still get the stupid comments like "you must not eat because after kids there is no way you can be that skinny and have nice curves." It really irritates people when I respond with "and I only workout when I remember and I rarely remember."

I spent my childhood underweight. I didn't have an eating disorder and it's not like my parents weren't feeding me.

I remember Grade 5 health class, the teacher was talking about starving third world children, and I panicked. I went home and asked my mom if I was too skinny. I think it was at that age that I started to look considerably smaller than other growing girls, and people (kids) would grab my wrists all. the. f*cking. time and go, "omg, you're so skinny".

Pair that with the more common complaint of most girls, "omg, I'm too fat" and I have been forever stuck in limbo. I don't want to be skinny/I don't want to be fat.

My husband was like that, Pistil.. he wore a size 24 waist through out most of his life. As he got older (late 20s) he started to gain a little weight, and has struggled with the same thing you have. To be quite honest, he DID look Ethiopian, though i would never ever ever say it to him. His drivers license looks downright scary, and he was in a 28 when we got together. His mother encourages his natural genetics to an alarming point, and he never ate very much and she never saw a problem with it. He was never taught that if you haven't eaten in a few days, you might want to go ahead and have a meal. All of his family is normally very thin framed and skinny, his sister is 4'11 and thin, but when he got married, I started cooking 3 meals a day, and as he has moved into his 30s he has put on a little weight to be around a 30 inch waist and looks MUCH healthier. His mother calls all of the time and warns him to watch his weight after looking at pictures ive posted/blogged. What weight?!?!!

I had someone comment that "you actually look good in this picture". It hurt at the time but, hey, i think I'm cute so whatever....

My mom is rather cruel to me and my sister. I'm gone and out of the house now, but my sister is at the pivotal age where it's actually really affecting her. She'll frequently get a hold of me to complain and ask mom if she can back off. Or worse I'll get a call from my mother asking if I can talk to my sister about her weight. Our problem is we have my dad's genetics, which are stocky with a very wide athletic builds, which does wonders for my sister's crew, and my own triathlon training. And by any means we are not heavy people. But my mom is thinner and after 50 years and 4 kids she's thinner than all of us. Being the two girls in the house we kind screwed in a way. My mom cooks for my brothers, who are very built individuals and eat three of whatever I do, so there is food everywhere.
But I remember when I was younger and a little heavier, she would barge into my room after yelling at her not to, and then lecture me about my stretchmarks on my legs. It has taken a toll on me. When ever I go home I feel like I am not thin enough for her, and I know I will be scrutinized relentlessly by her. I myself have lost weight since then and I'm in great shape, but I still think about it quite obsessively. I've found someone who thinks I'm beautiful as I am, and I've come to accept that my bone structure is wider than hers, but it's still harsh. She's driven me up a wall over this.

When I was in the eighth grade, my swim coach was quoted in the local newspaper as having said that I had "the perfect body for breaststroke." He then went on to elaborate what those qualities were. It was funny the first few times when I would walk into a classroom or the pool to shouts of "it's the breaststroke boooooooooody!!!" But after a year or so, it got a little old. It was the gift that kept on giving. Thanks, coach! *shaking head*

Even though I was never fat, my older brother and his friends took to calling me "Grimace", like the big purple McDonald's character and I still face body image issues to this day because of it...

My mom was a bit more subtle.."There's some great low-calorie dressing in the fridge"....

The ironic thing is that I am a healthy weight and athletic and she is truly anorexic. She of course doesn't see it and no comments from us about her eating will ever change her.

Very sad.

I love my grandmother but she is extremely critical about my looks. She always teased me about my small chest, to the point where I used to hate wearing a bathing suit in public because I was so embarrassed about my small B cups. She also told me I ruined my little brother's entire first communion because I wore my glasses to the ceremony. Needless to say, I wear contacts all the time.

My elementary school (k-8) was very small! (70 ppl.) So everyone was relativley nice. I was skinny and athletic from being with my brothers. but first my oldest brother moved out then my other brother went to sweden for a year as a foreign exchange student when i was in the 5 grade. I started to get a little chubby but didnt think much of it until my crush, very nicely, told me he wouldnt go out with me because i got fat. since then i always excercise and watch my weight.

I remember when I was about 13 I was sitting on the ground with my best friend and a guy that I'm actually sort of related to distantly. It was summer so I was wearing shorts and I remember that he asked me if I worked out my calf muscles a lot. And I said "no" and he just kind of said "oh really?" and made a weird face. I was self conscious about having huge leg muscles for a long time. I do gain muscle fast and my best friend was always on the thin side, so I think we actually made each other a little self conscious being at the opposite ends of things in that way. But it took me a long time to feel okay. I actually refused to wear shorts up until a few years ago when someone told me there was nothing wrong with me and I was a little crazy for thinking so. Now I can feel normal in the summer and not over heat. It's awesome.

all of my girl cousins had to wear the same dress for my cousins wedding. they were all 15 & older. my aunt said i had to get a padded bra "to make the dress look nicer" and my mom went out to buy me one and made me wear it i was so embarrased wtf i just started middle school of course i didnt have huge boobs! to this day i wear padded bras just becus that comment always made me feel not womenly enough

I overheard some guys in my dorm freshman year talking about the girls in our hall. When it came to me, they said, "she's pretty, but her teeth? No." It broke my heart because I was self-conscious about my crooked teeth my whole life (even though my mom would tell me I was beautiful and it didn't matter). Even after having my braces (as an adult - talk about a whole other kind of self-consciousness!), I am still not that confident about my smile.

I have always been the tallest girl in the room and I have heard numerous hateful comments about my height. Those comments hurt and I used to wish I could be shorter but I got over it by the time I was 18 and I embraced my height. When I was 23 and my mom pinched my side and told me I was looking a little chubby I almost died. I knew I had gained some weight and I knew that even though she said a little she meant a lot. I was horrified. Hearing that from my mom was a swift kick to the gut. That was my motovation to lose 30 pounds and 7 years later it is still my motivation to not look "a little bit chubby."

i was always really skinny, later when i start have 13/14 years old i have start have more women body every thing say i have a nice body because i have slender with curve, but then my cousin arrive and she started make feel but about my type of skin, my height, my hair, the color of my skin because she is more white that me. later i finish my school and i went to exchange student i weight 55 kg and 5'3 so my bf say i looked like a 14 years old, i didn't thought i look like that. i feel depress during that year so i gain weight so i weight 75 kg, any of my clothes fit me, i have at nervous acne, all my body start off equilibrium so my weight, hair, and skin were affected. after i came back my mom and my aunt make me felt really bad, well all my child i was never tiny enough, so always say I'm fat.my dad side the tend to be a little chubby so all my family say that i was really fat and i look awful , i feel really depress it took me more that a year to start feeling more comfortable about me, my boyfriend he always say I beautiful but i still feeling not secure about me and my body, specially all the other exchange student lost the weight and i just drop to 65 kg and my clothes still don't fit me. so i still battle about my weight and how i feel about how i look, someday i feel nice and other i just cry about how i look. doesn't help every time my mom,aunt , dad and brother call me fat and how the clothes don't look good on my because I'm fat. i want to weight again 55 kg, but i guess i will never fit in my parents standard, my whole life i try to fit in those standard but i know i could ever i will capable to do it.
every time i look me in the mirror i heard my family comment how i look fat

In 8th grade before I had braces I had really bad teeth. A boy that I had a crush on called me a goat because I had "goat teeth" (whatever that means!) I am now getting aligners at the age of 23 because my teeth have shifted after having braces and I'm still very self conscious about them! The other thing is that I got the "Roses are red, violets are black why is your chest as flat as your back" a lot in middle school (I was a late bloomer) And now that I have breasts I am still very self conscious about them. I am smaller chested and always worry that my man doesnt like them because theyre small. Crazy what comments as a child can do to you for the rest of your life!

Just recently I was talking to my mother- who was a skinny size-3 teenager but put on a lot of weight in her mid 20s and has been a 14-16 ever since. She is 5'1. I said how I'd like to lose about 15 lbs and then I would be at my ideal, and she said, "I was about your age when I... you know..." and then she made this ballooning motion with her hands. Thanks for the encouragement, mom. Last time she was with me she put all of my exercise equipment away and offered to put my stair stepper in storage! This is going to sound insane but sometimes I think she's jealous because I take after my tall and slender father.

I always got comments on my light skin tone being called "Casper" a lot in junior high. I'm the only one in my family who cannot tan and it drives me crazy...I used to try really really hard to tan but nothing worked for me until I finally just accepted my fair skin. My bf's dad did make a comment to him about how light I am, but thankfully it doesn't bother me...if his son doesn't mind, why should I?

These comments are so sad. I wish I could just make us all forget these awful comments and be happy.

Once in grade four, my whole class was lined up against the wall about to go somewhere as a class and this boy beside me said, "Wow, your arms are really hairy..." Even though I learned to shrug it off, I always look at my arms and grimace a little inside because I think it looks so manly.

i was bullied at school for being overweight and they refused to be my friend/made alot of fun. i did extra exercise every week to lose the weight and couple of girls burst out laughing in front of everyone when the teacher said why i was in their class, like i wasnt there. when i left that lot behind at college id lost a lot of weight naturally and was very fit/attractive but i was too convinced noone liked me cause of my 'weight', and thought i was very ugly, didnt realise i had developed a problem. nowadays due to a long-standing illness i am overweight again (though still fit i might add), and much more comfortable, but i find exercise difficult cause of stuff like those stupid girls.. i hear other people comment on it as well, that i can be very good at sports like jogging or swimming but still be overweight and unhealthy looking.. i feel like im being laughed at alot though i know it shouldnt bother me and its prob not real.. its like i feel pulled towards their stereotype of overweight people, and it makes me want to stop exercising completely, which is silly cause i really enjoy it!

I have always been very thin. My sister is now thin, but somewhat struggled with her weight when she was younger. Now, she does nothing by work out. At the age of 25, I finally started to fill out a little...then, my sister started making comments to me about how my butt is getting big and how I should watch my weight. She is so obsessed with my body that one time, she reached for my jeans (yes, while i was wearing them) to see what size jeans i was wearing. Then, at my engagement party last weekend, when the guests were supposed to write a little known fact about me or my fiance, she wrote "used to be a size 0". It's pathetic and mean...and lame since I now wear a size 2...and if she thinks that's fat, she's got bigger issues.

i admit that i am very heavy set. a few months back my father said to me, "if i die tomorrow the only that would make me sad is you. " i said "why" and he said "just look at what you allowed to happen to yourself.you're dying" it was so cutting as i'm 30 and i already isolate myself for years now. do you know where that sent me...into a path of random sex with anonymous internet old men...from a virgin.

I had always been a thin and athletic teenager, and when I went away to college, I gained 10-15 pounds in the first semester. Around February I realized that I had taken on a lot of bad habits, started exercising again and eating right, and lost all the weight by the end of the year. When I got home for the summer, my sweet and gentle aunt looked me up and down and said, "Oh, what a relief! When I saw you at Christmas you had a big pot belly, but it's almost all gone now." I still can't feel entirely comfortable around her.

My dad used to comment on my weight a lot, calling me "fat." It really bothered me to the point where I stopped eating, lost two dress sizes in a month and still felt huge. (I suppose having jeans two sizes too big didn't help..) He finally stopped commenting after I mentioned eating disorders. I love my dad to bits but he has no tact. I'm really anal about what I eat now, I'm not the smallest girl out there (but I'm also not a big one), and I can't bring myself to anything fatty at all.

I also had an ex comment on my "wingspan" and now have trouble wearing tank tops and camisoles without something over the top.

One of my first boyfriends told me my vagina looked like an oyster. I didn't let another guy look at it for YEARS! Only now with my current BF am I comfortable enough with it!

When I was 15, a boy in my class called me fat in front of the whole class (mind you, I was at a healthy weight). I was absolutely mortified and started to exercise and watch my diet.
Then when I was 18, I overheard my mother telling a friend of hers that my father never wanted me because I was a first born daughter (he wanted a first born son) and I wasn't good enough. I thought if I lost some weight and became thinner I would be better. I lost 20kg in about 4months and became dangerously underweight.
Then,my mother said to me one night that if I lost another 2 kg I would be "perfect". I did lose the last 2kg but by that stage my hair was falling out, I was covered in bruises, emotional wreck, crying myself asleep everynight, falling asleep in classes, had chest pain (like I was having a heart attack).
Im better now but my self-esteem is shot to pieces and I can't stand people touching me/looking at me/talking to me and I never ever wear shorts or skirts or anythng remotely revealing.

When I was in middle school someone told me I had buck teeth. I never did but ever since then I'm always looking at my smile and wondering: even though I like it, do other people think I have big ugly teeth??

When I was 13 and in high school I was flipping through Dolly magazine, which in Australia is basically Cosmo for teenaged girls, and I flipped past the Dolly Model Competition for readers. A boy near me saw the page and told me that I was too ugly to be in that competition and I always would be.

I turn 28 soon and those words still bring tears to my eyes.

I'm really stunned reading all these comments. If there weren't 44 of them, I'd comment on some individually. I guess I'd just say that there's been a lot of hurt done.

All of these comments just make me realize how much our words affect others. I too have been told things about my appearance, but I try to remember that my personality is what is best about me, not my looks which fade with time anyways.

I had a really tough time when I was younger with my weight, which was only compounded by my mother, who always had me on diets, and was always making sure I watched what I ate. Never mind that she didn't encourage exercise or any outdoor activity, and didn't cook healthy meals (veggies, etc). She just focused on me eating less. Even up to the point that I was in college she would call me and ask if I had been eating too much. She had an eating disorder, and was extremely thin and unhealthy. I eventually developed an eating disorder myself, and have been struggling with it ever since. There will probably never be a time when I am not focused on my weight, because I was raised with those thoughts ingrained in my mind.

My grandmother told me while I was in high school, that it was okay I wasn't pretty because I was smart.

It's really sad how many people have commented about weight issues resulting from something someone said. I wish that I could take that away from the girls that are growing up now. I had that, I spent two years in Elementary school dealing with being "the fat one" in the group. It never mattered what my mother said, that I was fine or that I hung out with girls that did hit puberty after I did...nope, it hurt every time someone said something about my weight. I wasn't the prettiest girl either, heard that a few times. Now, at 23, I'm very preoccupied with my weight, I get into emotional slumps and get mad at myself when I don't exercise in a day and eat too much empty calorie food.
I'm incredibly vain, yeah I don't mind admitting it but when I look at myself I'm only satisfied 45% of the time, at most.