A high school’s misguided attempt to promote body image by supplying teenage girls with shapewear has been blasted on social media.
A Mississippi middle school has been blasted by parents after offering female students shapewear to alleviate “body image” concerns.
A post detailing what happened went viral on Twitter and Facebook and has sparked outrage beyond the Southaven Middle School, where it was distributed, the New York Post reports.
“This is what was sent home with my 8th-grade daughter,” wrote mum Ashley Heun, whose daughter Caroline attends the Southaven school. “I am beyond pissed, though I’m not sure if I’m more pissed at the fact that they had the ‘balls’ to send this home or the VERY IGNORANCE of the ‘counsellors’ at the school.”
She included a screenshot of the letter outlining the school’s offer, which allows parents to elect to receive constricting undergarments for female students in grades six to eight, who range in age from 10 to 14.
The memo said “girls are more likely than boys to have a negative body image” due to “unrealistic social and cultural beauty ideals,” which can result in higher instances of depression and low self-esteem among school girls.
In order to buck the trend, parents were given the option to let the school’s counsellors send their daughters “shapewear, bras and other health products if applicable”.
However, the prospect of offering tween and young teen girls shapewear to boost self-esteem didn’t sit too well with Ms Heun, who lambasted the paradoxical policy on Facebook.
The stay-at-home mother-of-two 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@$&.”
A 2011 Consumer Reports article, entitled “The dangers of teens in Spanx”, detailed the damage popular shapewear brands could inflict on teens.
“It makes for a perfect storm for nerve damage,” wrote Dr Orly Avitzur. “Fitted, constrictive garments might be responsible for other health problems, including the recurrent abdominal pain my patient also complained of, possibly related to restriction of the bowels, especially after a meal.”
Spanx, one of the most popular shapewear brands, does not offer junior’s or girl’s sizing on its site, although it does carry leggings for teens.
The anger-inducing memo sparked Ms Heun to write a letter to Southaven’s principal, John Sartain.
“If my daughter begged me for shapewear, I would tell her no,” read the note, per Yahoo Life. “Now I find out that you are ENCOURAGING her to wear it. I, honestly, am baffled that a ‘counsellor’ who is TRAINED in child psychology would actually think that this is a good idea.”
Ms Heun claimed that the principal has since apologised, and informed her the school has decided to cancel the program. Meanwhile, the DeSoto County School District has confirmed that the policy has been “discontinued,” Today reported, but not before it stirred up outrage on social media.
“What the holy hell is this,” tweeted parenting guru and podcaster Glennon Doyle along with a screenshot of Ms Heun’s original post. Doyle, who also wrote the best-selling memoir Untamed, said: “What school is passing out ‘shapewear’ to female students? It’s too early in the day for this s**t but fine tell me where to show up for f**k’s sake.”
Another critic wrote: “I can trace like 70 per cent of my body image complex back to extremely sexist, degrading and inappropriate school dress codes.
“Why were so many male school staff commenting on my body the moment I hit puberty?” they said. “And why, 20 years later, are we still feeding even worse BS to our girls?”
Ms Heun said: “I am all for providing bras and other essentials for girls who don’t have access to them for whatever reason, but handing out a letter to all the girls in class (yes, in front of the boys) is just … creepy? Inappropriate? Ill-conceived?
“And shapewear has absolutely no place in a middle school. Ever,” she said.
This post originally appeared on the New York Post and has been republished with permission
Originally published as High school girls offered shapewear to assist with ‘body image’
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