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The Body Shaming of Children Has To Stop

You are beautiful if you are not a size 0

Michele Maize
5 min readJul 17, 2022
Photo by Huha Inc. on Unsplash

In certain sports and jobs, the idea of a typical weight comes into play. Models are “supposed to be” small unless you are a plus-size model.

A ballerina should be thin.

A long-distance runner shouldn’t be a size 14.

Too many rules are placed on our society. It’s ridiculous.

Why can’t someone who feels confident and healthy in their body do whatever sport they are good at without feeling pressured to conform?

My daughters are dancers and competing in their last competition of the season this weekend. Yesterday, we were reminiscing about their younger years but some bad memories flooded in.

4 years ago we left the studio that they danced at since they were 3 years old. They were 12 and 14 when we decided to make a move.

It was a hard decision to leave all of their friends but the shame and ridicule from the teachers trumped the friendships.

They could very well keep all of their friends at the studio but they couldn’t continue to endure the shame and verbal abuse from the teachers.

My older daughter was rail thin in her early teens, not because she had an eating disorder but…

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Michele Maize
Michele Maize

Written by Michele Maize

Sober Traveler | Wannabe Vegan | Yoga Addict. Dog-loving extrovert turned introvert. Owner of "The Maze". Editor at Black Bear and Globetrotters.

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