A Mississippi-based momma is pissed off at her daughter’s school, and for good reason!!
On Tuesday, Ashley Heun’s eighth-grade daughter returned home from Southaven Middle School with a letter for her parents to sign off on, titled “Why Do Girls Suffer from Body Image?” The lengthy note was written by counselors and described the many health issues girls can suffer if they don’t have a “positive body image.” And the whole thing was dated AF and highly insensitive!!
The message began:
“Girls are more likely than boys to have a negative body image. This may be because women in the United States feel pressured to measure up to unrealistic social and cultural beauty ideals, which can lead to negative body image.”
Noting that a negative body image could cause “low self-esteem” and “depression,” the letter added:
“She may not want to be around other people or may obsess constantly about what she eats or how much she exercises.”
So the school’s solution to this very serious issue was to hand out “shapewear, bars, and other health products” so that girls could have a “positive body image,” and in turn “good physical and mental health.” And they even asked for the student’s shapewear and bra size! Whaaat??
Read the whole note (below)!
This is what was sent home with my 8th grade daughter at Southaven Middle School. All girls were sent home with this letter. I’m appalled at the fact that they are trying to fix “negative body image” by sending home SHAPEWEAR! @cory_uselton @TweetDCS @DCSeNews @SouthavenMiddle pic.twitter.com/tmluXTW990
— Ashley Heun (@ashleyheun) January 11, 2022
Horrified, Ashley told USA Today that she was “shocked” and “angry” to see the school promoting shapewear to such young girls, adding:
“I had to read it a few more times, to make sure I was actually reading what I was actually reading.”
She then took a few hours to calm down and process what she had read before emailing Southhaven’s principal, John Sartain, writing:
“There it was, though, in all its glory, offering my daughter SPANX. My 13-year-old daughter. Shapewear. If my daughter begged me for shapewear, I would tell her no. I would be concerned about her if she even asked. Now I find out that you are ENCOURAGING her to wear it.”
On Twitter, the protective momma also lambasted the message, arguing:
“All girls were sent home with this letter. I’m appalled at the fact that they are trying to fix ‘negative body image’ by sending home SHAPEWEAR!”
It’s seriously sooo ridiculous and problematic!!
John called first thing the next morning to apologize, then explained the odd reason they even created the program. Southaven had supposedly received a large donation of bras, underwear, and shapewear. They decided to write the letter as a way to gather information and hand out the donations as necessary. But it obviously backfired when Heun and several other parents complained!
DeSoto County Schools, which oversees Southaven, told People that they’ve axed the program, insisting they “understand how this type of information causes serious concern for parents.”
Remarkably, Ashley doesn’t hold a grudge about the potentially damaging program, understanding that the school had “good intentions,” telling USA Today:
“While I know they had good intentions, it was just very ill-conceived. And I appreciate the fact that they want to help because there are girls out there who don’t have access to bras or other essential items, for whatever reason.”
It’s so true. Many girls need and would appreciate new bras and underwear, but the school should never have tried to turn it into some half-assed lesson. Imagine how damaging that letter could have been?! Especially coming from their school counselors of all people. This is the exact opposite lesson we should be teaching the next generation.
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Does this make you as mad as Ashley? Let us know!
[Image via WENN/Avalon & Victoria’s Secret/YouTube]
The post Mom Slams Middle School For Offering Shapewear To Fix Girls' 'Negative Body Image' -- WTF?! appeared first on Perez Hilton.