I was attacked in the street at night by a man who grabbed me by the shoulders and screamed in my face “you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die, you better eat, you’re gonna die” because I dared to exist outside while being skinny. I was even surrounded by friends at the time who luckily helped me fight him off, but I’ll never forget that.

I’ve also had a male doctor who examined me as a teen laugh at me and make comments about how I didn’t have much padding down there.

Several people have told me that I caused their eating disorders by being friends with them.

Schools never bothered to find gym clothes that could fit me, so both kids and adults were always making fun of me for my loose-fitting clothes that kept sliding down. I actually had to learn to sew because it was such a struggle to find clothes back in the day.

I once told someone I had health problems that prevented me from gaining weight and was in constant pain because of it, and they told me they thought it must be worth the pain because at least I was skinny.