Viral Twitter hashtag helps victims fight back against body shaming

Sometimes, it's your own family who can be the cruelest. And while they may not mean to be, some of those comments never leave you.

Now, there's a fight back against such bodyshaming, with people sharing the cruelest comments delivered to them by family members using the hashtag #Theysaid.

Unsurprisingly, it's gone viral. And, sadly, most of the tweets have to do with weight.

Twitter user @KitKat shared a scathing comment from her nan: "'If you lose weight, someone will love you", adding, "Haha, my boyfriend loves me for who I am and I'm still the same weight."

Many Twitter users expressed heartbreak at the comments, saying they brought back a lot of unhappy memories.

"Reading the #theysaid tweets is heartbreaking," wrote Stephanie Austin. "I'm having major flashbacks to my own relatives saying similar things. We shall overcome!"

Even more heartbreaking is the fact that many of the cruel taunts being shared have been said to young women.

Julia Hall shared the cruel comment, "'You're so fat'. I was 10. 'You're so tall, you could be a model if you lost some weight.' I was 14."

Some of the comments came from jealous friends, like those directed at Kayla who prides herself on her fitness, only to have someone say, "'Stop trying to look like a man. No-one wants to date a woman who looks like/better than them.' Girls who want my body."

And it's not just fat-shaming that's going on. Skinny-shaming stories – which can be just as painful – are also being shared.

Among them are some words of wisdom from a woman called Jenni, who says, "We need to change the way we speak to one another and to ourselves. Your weight does not determine your value as a human being."

Maybe this empowering Twitter hashtag is the perfect way to do just that.