People just need to stop. Stop staring. Stop commenting. Stop whispering. You think we don’t notice, but the truth is that we do. We notice each and every time, so just stop.

I know when you’re talking about my body, because you clearly don’t know the definition of whispering. You have no authority to be criticizing my body, when you couldn’t even learn a simple kindergarten lesson—how to whisper. That being said, whispering a hurtful comment does not make it okay.

Unfortunately, I have been a victim of these comments—person X was saying something about my body, but X clearly hadn’t learnt how to whisper either. And when I confronted X about it, all X could say for himself/herself was, “Oh, you weren’t supposed to hear that.” Is that really your excuse for making derogatory comments about my body? Is it ok to make comments like that as long as you do it behind my back? No matter how you rude people try to hide, I will always know when you’re talking about me. So don’t whisper behind my back, and don’t say anything to my face either. Just don’t say anything at all. As they say, don’t say anything if you don’t have anything nice to say. But you don’t stop there; aside from attacking me verbally, you also attack me by staring.

I know when you’re looking at my body. When you say that you’re trying to read my shirt, I know you’re lying, because I’ve worn this shirt at least thirty times in the year, and every single time you read it, as if it’s the first time you’ve seen it. Considering you’re an AP student who is required to memorize at least 100 facts for your tests, I think you would’ve memorized the two words on my shirt by now, and it definitely does not take you five minutes to read two words. If it did take you that long, you wouldn’t have passed any of your classes. Like really, could you be any more obvious? If this is how uncouth you are, then I can only pray for when you try to ask someone out on a date.

And I know some of you will say that it’s my fault because I was wearing “such a low-cut shirt.” But let me clear some things up: my shirt was not low-cut at all, in fact it went up to my collarbones, and it wasn’t see-through or super tight either. What do you want me to do? Wear baggy t-shirts and sweatshirts and turtlenecks? Then, you complain about how terrible I look, and how I look like I just jumped out of a trashcan. Make up your mind people. And to those of you who think that I’m trying to draw attention to myself, do you think that I like people making mean and inappropriate comments about me? The answer is no. No, I don’t want to draw attention to myself; I would much rather remain invisible.

I try to joke around about my body when people start talking about it, but there’s only so much abuse one person can take. It’s sad because I shouldn’t have to laugh at myself. If no one said such things in the first place, no one would be forced to accept the ridicule.

Some people think that it is okay to make fun of my body, but just because you are my friend does not give you a right to talk about my body in that way. What’s worse is when people who I barely talk to think that it’s okay to call me names, like they’ve known me forever.

So commenters, you can comment; starers, you can stare; name-callers, you can name-call; but only so you can see the debasing effect it has on people, so you can learn from it and so you will never say anything demeaning again. And to those of you who haven’t partaken in this body-shaming, I applaud you. You have a beautiful

heart, and I hope that your heart continues to be pure. As for the rest of you who have been humiliated about your body, know that you aren’t alone, whether you are a male or a female. Don’t feel afraid to stand up for yourself and talk about your struggles. Together, we can fight this, not by humiliating our attackers like they did to us, but by teaching them how to be better people.