I’m not really concerned about the self-esteem of the girl who looks like she belongs in the Abercrombie ad, or on the “O.C.”

There have been many times when I have been washing my hands in the women’s room and heard women plainly state, “God, I’m so fat!”

These girls are never actually fat (or even slightly heavy), nor are they speaking to anyone specific. They are skinny, insecure young women who are searching for a compliment. Well, I won’t play their game.

My usual reaction is to look disgusted, say “You’re right” and walk out. Either the girls look shocked or call me swears. One way or another, I’m not giving them what they want, so I’m content with this. These girls make all women look bad by drawing attention to their insecurities.

Comments like “I’m fat” or “Do you think I’m smart?” or “I wish I was pretty” bring the women in our country down a notch by making us all appear shallow, materialistic and in need of a man to take care of us. I get truly annoyed with the comment of “I’m fat” mostly because the girls who say this are never overweight at all. If they were, they would never chance making this statement.

Heavy girls would never say something like this in fear that they will get an affirmative response. The only girls who say these words are girls that know it isn’t true and are looking for someone to tell them they’re pretty. These girls are a size two, shop at Abercrombie and hang out in large packs.

We’ve all seen them while driving past Water Street to get to a cool bar. They hang out expecting guys to buy them drinks (often Malibu and pineapple juice, sex on the beach or Smirnoff Ice). They go to the bathroom in packs and complain about how fat they are to each other while purging up the 300 alcohol calories they just consumed.

As long as they are reassuring each other that they are “soooo pretty,” it doesn’t bother me. When these girls are out without their posses and the one girl out feels it’s necessary to tell me she’s fat, I want to scream.

Sure, my response of “You’re right” or “totally” is probably not helping this girl’s self image, but honestly, I’m not really concerned about the self-esteem of the girl who looks like she belongs in the Abercrombie ad or on the “O.C.”

I’m more concerned with the young preteen girls who have to look at these images every day, thinking they have to be that thin/tan/blonde. These young girls are being bombarded with images every day that give them unrealistic body images. Then, these poor impressionable girls get to hear the girls they want to be say, “I’m so fat!”

Think about what this does to a kid. Most of us can never be 5-foot-2 and 100 pounds. At 5-foot-7, I would die if I weighed 100 pounds. Most kids don’t need to believe that they will never be good enough.

Next time you are out at a bar and you hear Little-Miss-Magazine-Perfect-Coed say she’s fat, don’t reassure her. Let her stew for a moment and think about how ridiculous she sounds to those around her. Force her to get her pride from her own beliefs and accomplishments, not from reassurances of what she already knows.

If you see me in a bathroom, don’t tell me you’re fat, because honestly, I’m sick of hearing it.

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