A US school offered female students shapewear to help them have a 'positive body image'
Southaven College.
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A US school offered female students shapewear in a bid to help improve their body image before canceling the program after widespread outrage.
Parents received a letter Tuesday from Southaven Middle School in Mississippi State, which noted that "many women in the United States feel pressured to conform to strict and unrealistic social and cultural ideals of beauty, which can lead to negative body image,” CNN reported.
The letter noted the negative effect this could have on young girls, but said "we can take steps to help our girls develop a healthier body image."
He then said that school counselors "would love the opportunity to provide your daughter with wholesome literature on maintaining a positive body image."
"We also provide girls with shapewear, bras and other health products as needed," the letter said.
Read the letter here:
The letter then asked parents to consent to their daughters receiving the items and asked what size shapewear they would need, ranging from small to XXX-Large.
Ashley Heun, the mother of a 13-year-old student at the school, told CNN that when she received the letter, "I had to read it over and over again."
“My first instinct was to go to school and yell at everyone I could find. »
She said she wrote to the school complaining and met with the principal on Wednesday, CNN reported.
She told CNN he apologized and told her the program was canceled.
The school district, DeSoto County Schools, told NBC's "Today" program that the program had been "discontinued."
