It's common for members of the wedding party to try and shed a few excess pounds ahead of the big day, but a story has surfaced online that flips the concept on its head.
A woman posting to Reddit under the name Station-Tune9973 shocked social media users after revealing she had quit as bridesmaid to one of her close friends after the bride asked her to put weight on—despite the fact she has been battling an eating disorder for much of her life.
Eating disorders are not something to be trivialized and are more common that many may realize. A 2020 Harvard School of Public Health report found that nine percent of the U.S. population will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.
That equates to roughly 28.8 million Americans. For some, it's a disorder that has fatal consequences with the same report showing there are around 10,200 deaths each year in the U.S. as a result of an eating disorder, a figure that amounts to one death every 52 minutes.
Perhaps that's why so many have reacted with such anger to the story shared online by the user claiming to be a 21-year-old woman who has "struggled with body image" for much of her young life and currently weighs 43kg (or about 95 pounds).
According to the post, which has accumulated over 13,000 upvotes including in the comments, she had been looking forward to serving as bridesmaid for her childhood friend Natalie who she grew up alongside.
"I felt honored to be included as I've never been a bridesmaid before," she wrote.
However, in the run-up to the wedding, the woman said she was perturbed when Natalie started to make lots of "strange requests." While she went along with them at first, things changed when Natalie began commenting on her appearance.
"She brought up my weight (or lack thereof) and asked if I could gain weight before the wedding," she said. Initially, the woman politely rejected this request.
"I've come to terms with how I look and have turned this negative thing into something that empowers me to live my life how I want," she said.
However, Natalie refused to let it lie with the bride apparently going on a "rant" about "how odd" it will be for her friend to "look like that." The woman said: "I was willing to let this go if she dropped it but she doubled down and sent me a 'diet' to get me to gain weight."
According to the post, this "triggered" her, bringing up bad memories of being "forced" to eat more or less in the past. She once again, rebuffed the bride's suggestion, prompting Natalie to become upset and issue an ultimatum: do this or don't be a bridesmaid.
"Fine I'm no longer a bridesmaid then," was her now ex-friend's response.
Yet the demands have allegedly continued with the bride getting in touch through family to ask that she "go with the flow" as there is no one to replace her and she was picked "for a reason."
Under pressure and upset, the woman turned online for a second opinion and quickly found her stance validated by a plethora of users who were stunned at the bride's alleged actions.
One user, posting as Alock, felt if anything the woman had not gone far enough in her response. "Not only should you drop out as a bridesmaid, you should drop out of her life," they wrote. "This person is not your friend. They care more about having the 'perfect' looking day than about your well-being."
Syomm agreed, writing: "dropping the friendship altogether would be a reasonable response to this request. This is not okay on the bride-to-be's part." Femme_funtale, meanwhile, lamented: "I don't understand why some people feel entitled to control another person's body. What a disgusting level of arrogance."
Elsewhere, YoshiPikachu said: "The fact that she wants you to gain weight knowing very well that you have a eating disorder is disgusting" with Mitrovarr adding: "Even if she's not uncaring (maybe she thinks you'd be healthier), her lack of knowledge makes her dangerous to you regardless."
000-Hotaru_Tomoe, meanwhile, surmised the situation: "You're not comfortable with the bride's request, and the decent thing she should do would be to drop the subject. Instead she turned into a certified bridezilla. Stick to your no and take care of your health."
Newsweek has contacted Station-Tune9973 for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
