A tone-deaf school offered shapewear to young girls in a presumed attempt to help them build a positive body image.
Shapewear – garments that temporarily alter the user’s body by flattening the skin and giving a slimmer appearance – was offered to girls aged from 10 to 14 at Southaven Middle School in Mississippi.
Infuriated by the school’s ridiculous offer, mother Ashley Heun spoke out and shared a photo of the letter she had received from the school on social media.
In the letter, the school counselors began by talking about body image and how girls may feel pressured “to measure up to strict and unrealistic social and cultural beauty ideals which can lead to a negative body image.”
While the letter went on to reassure the parents that school officials want to help female students develop a healthier body image and feel good in their own bodies, the message took a major U-turn as shapewear and bras were offered to the girls out of the blue.
“We, the counselors of Southaven Middle School, would like to have an opportunity to offer some healthy literature to your daughter on maintaining a positive body image. We are also providing girls with shapewear, bras, and other health products if applicable,” the paradoxical letter concluded.
In the tear-off section, there was also space for parents to provide a signature to allow their daughters to receive bras, literature, and shapewear from school counselors.
Sharing the bizarre letter on Facebook, Heun called out the school officials and accused them of ignorance.
“So this is what my 8th-grade daughter brought home from school today. I am beyond pi**ed, though I’m not sure if I’m more pi**ed at the fact that they had the ‘balls’ to send this home or the VERY IGNORANCE of the ‘counselors’ at the school,” the mother wrote.
“So you begin this masterpiece detailing how damaging a negative body image is for girls, how the stress of conforming to an impossible perceived image can adversely affect their mental health, and then OFFER TO GIVE THEM SPANX SO THEY CAN BETTER FIT THE PERCEIVED IMAGE?!? What. The. Very. F@$&.
“How, in the he**, are you promoting a positive body image by saying ‘here, you’re too fat. You need shapewear to make you look thinner.’ Are you freaking kidding me?”
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