Middle school offered girls shapewear to alleviate body image concerns
No Spanx you.
A Mississippi middle school has been ripped by parents over a perplexing policy in which they offered female students shapewear to alleviate “body image” concerns. A post detailing the disaster went viral on Twitter and Facebook and has sparked outrage beyond Southaven Middle School, where it was distributed.
“This is what was sent home with my 8th-grade daughter,” wrote aghast mom 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 ‘counselors’ at the school.”
She included a screenshot of the obtuse sartorial offering, which allows parents to elect to receive form-fitting undergarments for female students.
The memo postulated that “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 counselors send their daughters “shapewear, bras and other health products if applicable.”
However, the prospect of offering girls Spanx to boost self-esteem didn’t sit too well with Heun, who lambasted the paradoxical policy on Facebook.
The stay-at-home mother of two fumed, “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 do for teens.
“It makes for a perfect storm for nerve damage,” wrote Orly Avitzur, MD. “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 brands, does not offer junior’s or girl’s sizing for shapewear on its site, though it does carry leggings for teens.
The anger-inducing memo sparked Heun to pen a letter to Southaven’s principal.
“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 ‘counselor’ who is TRAINED in child psychology would actually think that this is a good idea.”
Heun claimed that the school boss has since apologized, and informed her they’d decided to cancel the program. Meanwhile, the DeSoto County Schools have confirmed that the disastrous fashion 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 Heun’s original post. Doyle, who also penned the bestselling memoir “Untamed,” added, “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–s sake.”
Another critic fumed, “I can trace like 70% 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 added. “And why, 20 yrs later, are we still feeding even worse BS to our girls?”
One Twitter wit even analogized the “body image-enhancing” policy to teaching “a class on Instagram posing too so all the girls can do it better.”
Heun summed up the issue like this: “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 concluded.
This isn’t the first time a school has sparked outrage over a controversial dress policy. In 2018, a Texas high school came under fire for showing students a “sexist” dress code tutorial video that seemingly singled out only girls wearing shorts.
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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