People have been sharing their stories of dating ‘plus-size’ and their accounts will make you cry

Stephanie Yeboah is a blogger and ELLE UK contributor who spends a lot of her time fighting ‘fatphobia.’

She’s an unrelenting force in for body-positivity in the realms of social media, and she used her Twitter account recently to start a conversation about ‘dating while plus-sized’.

A post shared by Stephanie Yeboah (@nerdabouttown) on Nov 14, 2017 at 11:28pm PST

She sent out a request to men and women, soliciting an answer these questions:

‘1) What’s the hardest thing you’ve faced while dating as a fat?

2) Weirdest message you’ve received?

3) Abuse?

4) Bad dates? Spill! I want to see something.’

She followed up with her own initial thoughts on ‘fat romance’ and her personal experiences.

Dating while plus sized: a thread that I want people to join in on. Men and women!
1) What’s the hardest thing you’ve faced while dating as a fat?
2) Weirdest message you’ve received?
3) Abuse?
4) Bad dates? Spill! I want to see something.

— Stephanie Yeboah (@NerdAboutTown) December 5, 2017

And the responses she received were heartbreaking.

Many people noted that their dates would often hide their affection for them in public, as though ashamed to be attracted to someone who wasn’t slim.

Many pointed out they they had also been fetishised.

Quickly, the topic of dating apps came up, which many people found challenging to navigate. They felt vulnerable in the infamously cruel space of online dating.

Quickly, the topic of dating apps came up, which many people found challenging to navigate. They felt vulnerable in the infamously cruel space of online dating.

Even this small collections of Tweets suggests that this idea of larger people needing to be grateful for romantic attention is pervasive. This is obviously an upsetting notion, as well as a dangerous one. Another user pointed out how this kind of imbalance can lead to abusive behaviour.

Issues of self-confidence, fetishising and more were brought up on the lengthy thread.

And after a couple of hours, Yeboah responded to the thread, ‘Reading all of your stories this evening has made me feel so sad. We really do have it quite hard, don’t we lads?’

It appears so.

From: ELLE UK