This Mom Was Left Furious After Her Middle Schooler Daughter Came Home With A Letter That Said Her School Was Offering Girls Shapewear

Ashley’s daughter came home from school last week with a letter from her principal at Southaven Middle School.

The letter talked about the meaning of “body image” in today’s culture and the pervasive adverse effects of “ideal” body shapes and beauty standards.

However, the letter soon turned a corner from healthy encouragement to its own brand of body-shaming.

It provided a permission slip, asking parents to sign that it was okay for the school to provide their daughters with “healthy literature, shapewear, bras, and other products given by the counselors of Southaven Middle school.”

They went on to ask parents to choose a size for shapewear in tops and bottoms and provide their child’s bra size.

Ashley’s mom was rightfully furious and shared her reaction to the letter in her Facebook post. 

“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?!?”

The letter addresses the fact that “a negative body image may lead to low self-esteem” and that a young girl “may not want to be around other people or may obsess constantly about what she eats or how much she exercises.” 

Facebook; pictured above is the letter

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With all this in mind, including increased risks of depression and developing eating disorders, the school administration went on to actively promote ways to distort girls’ bodies, supposedly to allow them to “fit in” better.

They acknowledge that girls tend to be more affected by body image issues than boys, and it’s clear they think that intervention could correct this perceived “weakness.”

It’s not as though the school was sending home mental health tips or ways to combat societal pressures.

Ashley immediately saw the irony in their letter, writing, “How, in the hell, 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?” 

Hopefully, the school rescinds this absurd, even invasive inquiry and replaces the funding for these products with ones that students really need, like school supplies or lunch funds.

However, Ashley certainly isn’t about to let this go without challenging the powers that be. “This isn’t over. I will be composing a few emails now…” You can find Ashley’s Facebook post here

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