Constance Hall: 'To the people who have called me fat since I was 10, I pity you.'

When I was 10, my uncle put his hand on my tummy when he kissed me goodbye and said, “getting a belly there Con.”

My heart sank.

When I was 12, my teacher asked me to suck in for the school photo.

My heart sank.

Watch Constance Hall speak to Mia Freedman on No Filter. Post continues below.

When I was 14, I was nicknamed POG, standing for prisoner of gravity.

My heart sank.

When I was 16, my friend’s mum told me I had such a pretty face, making it such a shame I couldn’t keep my weight down because I had such potential.

My heart sank.

When I was 17, my sleazy boss at a clothing shop told me he would have cracked onto me if I lost some weight.

Finally, I thought, a benefit to my weight.

I proceeded through life blaming everything on my weight. If only I were thin, I’d have that job, that boyfriend, that outfit. Everything would be OK, if only I were thin.

I got cheated on because I was fat, men didn’t call me back because I was fat, I wasn’t invited to the hipster’s parties because I was fat. Life was rejecting me because I was fat.

But I was wrong.

Life was rejecting me because I believed I was fat. And who could blame me, after the life I had lived with my entire community hoping for my sake that I’d get thin?

I had kids, bought houses, followed passions, travelled and before I knew it I was valuing myself on much more than the number on a tag of my jeans.

In fact, I began to pity people who couldn’t see past a number on a scale or a bulging belly and thighs.

I had an opinion – I believed myself to be an interesting woman. Interesting is sexy.

Before I knew it, I was attracted to myself.

Boys are raised in the same society girls are, where they’re taught that thin and toned are the only ways for women to be sexy.

We cannot expect them to wake up one day with the realisation that anything can be sexy. It’s our job to show them. Our job is to see how sexy we are, to flaunt our body at every size or shape, and give our bodies love.

How can anyone be expected to find you sexy if you are hiding that glorious body of yours because you don’t believe in it yourself?

Yesterday, I saw this picture of myself.

My heart sang.

Content, sexy, loved and strong. This body is the only body I have, and I love the sh*t out of it, every day.

This post originally appeared on Constance Hall's Facebook page, and has been republished with full permission. For more from Constance Hall, you can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, or on her website. 

Feature image: Instagram/@mrsconstancehall