A young mum who suffered from anorexia has spoken out about being body shamed while getting her picture taken with Santa and her seven-year-old daughter, April.
What should have been a very merry start to the Christmas season quickly turned into a humiliating experience for Mini Westwood, who was told by the photographer to ‘suck in your gut’.
‘I felt good at the beginning. I left feeling rubbish,’ Ms Westwood told A Current Affair.
‘You’d think Santa photos, happy experience, has been every other year, never had an issue, but this year it was ruined.’
Little April had been excited to see Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas.
She wanted the day to be special and picked out her mum’s outfit, choosing jeans and a cropped t-shirt.
But as they sat down with Saint Nic, the photographer’s comment took all the joy out of the day triggering traumatic memories of her illness.
‘The photographer turned around and says quite loudly, “Mum, suck your gut in”, and just motioned for me to suck my gut in.’
Though April didn’t understand what had just been said to her mum, she knew it upset her.
Looking back at the photos, Ms Westwood said ‘I look at my stomach, I look at how uncomfortable April looks, how much she’s barely actually holding Santa’s hand’.
Queensland mum Mini Westwood is pictured looking at herself in the mirror after a photographer told her to ‘suck your gut in’ while taking a Christmas picture of her and her daughter with Santa
She froze in shock at the hurtful comment, and Santa seemed disgusted.
‘Santa looked at me and kind of looked back at the photographer and shook his head, like (as if to say) “you shouldn’t say that especially while their child is here”.’
Ms Westwood has battled with an eating disorder and mental health issues since childhood.
‘Being someone with anorexia, I’ve had it for years, it’s something that messed with me a bit that day,’ she said.
Brisbane-based social commentator Kylie Lang said it is never OK to comment on someone else’s body.
‘Well, I wondered what decade we’re living in. Has nobody learned about appropriate respectful language,’ she said.
‘Often when you are getting professional photographs taken, people can give you some coaching, a few tips, you know, sit up straight, put your chin up, shoulders back, that sort of thing.
‘But to just say to somebody “suck in your gut”, that remark should never have been made.’
Read Related Also: Quinton Simon: Search Halts Until Monday for Missing Georgia Tot, Police to Conduct Interviews & Analyze Evidence
Mini Westwood (pictured left, with her daughter and Santa) froze when the photographer who took this picture made the rude comment to her about her body
Ms Westwood said April continued to be upset and what had been said and kept asking what the photographer meant by the comment.
April eventually Googled the phrase on her iPad and said ‘Mum, suck it in means that you’re fat’.
Not wanting her daughter to get even more upset, Ms Westwood said ‘no, suck it in means it’s someone saying that to you who’s not happy with themselves and they’ll pick on you for it’.
After the awful incident, she contacted the company, called Scene to Believe, that organises the Santa photos to make sure it didn’t happen again.
The company sent her a grovelling apology and offered free photos next year.
‘The situation has been investigated and the team has been spoken to and retrained in the positive ways in which we communicate with our families,’ the statement said.
Brisbane-based social commentator Kylie Lang (pictured) said it is never OK to comment on someone else’s body
Ironically, Scene to Believe partners with the Butterfly Foundation which raises awareness of eating disorders.
In a statement issued to Channel Nine, the foundation said: ‘This is a teachable moment – words can have impact and it’s important that we continue to learn and grow together as a community.’
Ms Westwood said she won’t let what happened ruin their Christmas but has some advice that Santa’s helper would be wise to heed.
‘Don’t do it again, do not make anybody ever feel the way you made me feel,’ she said.
The situation also reinforced what she has always taught her daughter – ‘do not ever judge anyone for what they look like or what they wear.
‘It’s their body, let them do it.’
