Who is the family member you absolutely despise, and why?
The Breaking Point
My father bodyshamed me and made me cry in front of our entire family, so I gave him a brutal reality check and told him I never wanted to see him again, plus all three updates. My father has always joked about my body despite the fact I am 110 lb at 5’3, and he is 240 lb at 5’5.
He thinks it’s funny to put me down about my weight. When I first introduced my boyfriend to him, he said aloud he’s surprised anyone would date me.
The worst part is he knows how much it has affected me in the past. When I was a senior in high school, I confided in my school’s counselor about it, but she laughed in my face.
She said I was delusional and if I have self-image issues, I need to be put in a ward. This brings us to yesterday.
I visited my parents’ house for an extended family gathering, and very quickly my father began making fun of me. He said, “Look at how her thighs jiggle, look at her stomach folds when she’s sitting”.
I was on the verge of tears already, but he made one more remark that completely sent me over. He asked, “How do you even have a boyfriend, is he into whales or something? I mean, can he even find the hole?”.
At that moment, I lost it. I stood up and through tears started screaming, “[ __ ] you! You weigh more than twice what I do”.
“Your gut rests on your thighs and you’re insulting me! What kind of a dad are you? I hate you,” I cried. He looked around stunned, with his mouth agape.
Then he finally responded with, “Excuse me! I am your father, you will respect me! If not for me, you wouldn’t be alive right now”.
I was crying by this point and asked him what he gets out of humiliating his own daughter in front of people. Instead of taking any form of accountability, he just brushed me off.
He told me he was only joking and I need to stop being so serious. He added that I can’t help my body turned out the way it did.
He then once again told me to stop being dramatic and accept that it’s a joke. I ended up leaving the house right away.
I drove home with tears streaming down my face. By the time I got back to the apartment, my boyfriend could tell right away that something was wrong.
He asked me what happened, and I just broke down. I told him everything: how my father had humiliated me in front of the whole family, how he kept making fun of my weight, and how he said that disgusting thing about him being into whales.
My boyfriend’s face turned red with anger as I kept talking, and I could see his fists clenching. I’ve never seen him so furious.
He hugged me tightly and told me over and over again that I didn’t deserve any of that. He said that my dad was completely out of line and that I was perfect just the way I was.
It felt good to be held, but the pain of what happened still stung. He pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
He asked, “I can’t believe he’d say that to you. How could he be so cruel? You’re beautiful and you deserve so much better than this”.
I could tell he was barely keeping it together. He declared, “I want to talk to him. He can’t keep treating you like this”.
I shook my head, wiping away my tears. I pleaded, “No, please don’t. It’ll only make things worse. He won’t listen to you and I don’t want to create more drama”.
I added, “I just, I just want to forget about it for a while, please”. He sighed but he nodded.
He promised, “All right, if that’s what you want, but promise me if he ever says anything like that again, you’ll tell me right away”. He insisted, “I can’t stand the thought of him hurting you like this”.
I nodded and hugged him again. I confessed, “I’m just so lost right now. I don’t know what to do”.
