What People Are Really Saying When They Comment on Women’s Bodies

October 29, 2014 / Buzzfeed

The sheer volume of unsolicited opinions that people project upon women’s bodies is staggering. It’s almost like there was a memo sent all of humanity, declaring that women’s bodies are constantly subject to public commentary.

But these comments are motivated by something much deeper than that. Here’s what people really mean when they talk about your body.

Click for the Transcript

I don’t realize that what I think is a compliment about your weight actually makes you feel anxious, insecure, and watched.

I’m looking you up and down because I’ve been socialized to judge other women and take advantage of that.

I’m worried that if you don’t have a perfect body, people are going to think that I’m a bad mom.

Literally everything that I don’t like about the way you look is a projection of what I don’t like about myself.

I don’t value your personality nearly as much as I value your breasts.

I’m gonna tell you your butt looks great in that, even though no one really knows what a good butt looks like.

I’ve never had a healthy relationship with food, and that’s really gonna fuck you up.

I make comments about your weight because I make snap judgements about what it means when really, I have no idea what’s going on in your life.

I’m uncomfortable with people of different shapes and sizes, but I’m not really sure why.

I accept the fact that our beauty standards are based entirely on Photoshop.

I’m going to tell you that everything in here is really slimming on you so that you shop here over and over and over again!

I don’t lift weights because I’ve been conditioned to think that looking beautiful and feminine means not looking strong.

I think your life will be easier if you’re thin, so I’m going to try to encourage that from a very young age.

This dress would look good on literally any body type, but the smaller sizes look better on the racks, so we keep everything else in back.

I don’t like the fact that you’re not conforming to a misogynistic ideal of female beauty, and I can’t think beyond that.

I criticize skinny girls to cover up the fact that I’m actually really concerned about my own weight.

I’m putting my own issues on you, and I’m completely unaware of the damage that I’m doing.

I’m going to tell you that this covers up your flaws. You don’t really have any, but I work on commission, so I need you to buy this.

I’ve been conditioned to be critical of myself and use self-deprecation as a cover-up so people don’t think I’m conceited. But the truth is, I look amazing.

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