I'm in complete disbelief after reading Katie McMahon's story. The woman shared her rough journey of self acceptance after getting lipsosuction when she was just 18. McMahon says her constant battle with body image issues started when she was only 10. And it's all thanks to her mother.
McMahon admits that she got surgery for the wrong reasons and that she wouldn't have gotten it had it not been for her mom. The heartbreaking story that follows is something I can't even fathom as a woman.
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McMahon grew up being fat shamed by her mother who always commented on her weight and placed her on diets before she was a teen. She also forced her into different sports teams that she hated at school. The stress that came from her mother's controlling behavior caused McMahon to secretly hoard and binge on the foods she was restricted from eating.
It wasn't until the teen was almost out of high school that her mom suggested she get liposuction as a graduation present. She too had liposuction after giving birth. "My past hesitance had been replaced by the nipped-and-tucked happiness I saw on TV shows like The Swan and Extreme Makeover where I internalized the 'magic' that plastic surgery could work for unhappy people like me," she wrote.
After a constant battle with food and more weight gain, the teen gave in and decided to get the operation. Her surgeon warned her that liposuction would only shape her body, not help her lose weight. She underwent the surgery and as a result felt worse about herself because the results weren't what she expected.
She was uncomfortable in her new skin and dealt with more insecurities and resentment towards her mother. McMahon recalls having a serious fight with her mom at one point. Her mother apologized, but her apology wasn't good enough. McMahon writes:
Instead of encouraging me to love my body, she validated that it was "bad" and needed to change. Her apology brought me no relief; I'm of the mind that it was her responsibility to deal with her destructive feelings about body image on her own instead of projecting them onto her daughter.
In the essay, McMahom admits she has now come to terms with the past even though she still struggles with her body image. She mainly focuses on the things that matter in life and views the scars on her body as a sign of survival and growth.
Words can't explain how deeply this story touched me. One because this was damage was both mental and physical and the other because the problems were brought on by a mother. Women should teach their daughters about accepting and loving their bodies, not show them to hate them the way this mother did. It's sad that she reflected her own insecurities on her daughter and caused her so much pain. I truly hope that McMahon is in a better place now, but I also pray that her mother's outlook has improved as well.
Image via Thinkstock
