That's right, laugh at me. Ass!!

[Seshat]

I had a guy tell me I was *fat*. He had a beer gut that made him look like he was about a year pregnant, but *I* was fat and shouldn't be wearing a one piece bathing suite on a public beach

There are people who will tell someone suffering from anorexia (visibly!) that they're fat.

There are people who would consider someone fat if they were a starvation victim but happened to have 'child-bearing' hips.

Heatherina - and everyone else - there is quite literally no way to avoid being called 'fat'. There is also no way to avoid being called a 'bitch', a 'slut', a 'ho', 'frigid', or any other name people can think up.

All you can do is learn a mental defence against it.

Mine is to think of them as toddlers who are just learning to speak. They don't understand the words they're saying, and they're not using them correctly.

Another is to think of them as pathetic little weasels who are trying to make themselves 'look big' by making other people look small.

Another is to decide that only person X's opinion of your body counts. Person X can be you, your best friend, your doctor ... but choose person X very carefully. I can't use myself as my 'person X', because my self-image of my body is badly screwed up.

Another is simply to ask yourself if you trust a random person on the street who doesn't know you, to make judgements about you.
Putting it that way, it's easy to say 'ha! of course not!'

Note that none of these mental defences work the first time. It takes time, patience, and practice to learn to ignore the opinions of random assholes. But it's well worth it.

And when you do have these defences, make sure they don't defend you from compliments! You deserve every honest compliment you get, so let those through.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Beer gut asshole was probably gearing up to hit on you.

I WISH I were kidding.

Same for assholes telling anorexic chicks that they're fat. In fact, expecially assholes telling anorexic chicks that they're fat.

[blas]

Last weekend at the bar, I got called fat by some girl who, I kid you not, was so skinny that my upper arm is bigger around than her upper thigh.

Too bad Fatso Blas isn't a mean drunk anymore!

[XCashier]

I had a guy tell me I was *fat*. He had a beer gut that made him look like he was about a year pregnant, but *I* was fat and shouldn't be wearing a one piece bathing suite on a public beach ...

Something similar happened to me at a salad bar. Guy twice my weight made fun of me for being fat. "Hi, I'm the Kettle, you must be the Pot."

Forget about jerks like that. Whether they're trying to be funny, trying to chat you up or simply too stupid to think before they speak, they're not worth getting upset over.