A woman who was "skinny-shamed" and "desperate for a boob job" after being bullied for having a flat chest has embraced her 'no-cup' and says she now loves having "no boobs". Clara Dao, 24, felt insecure throughout her teen years after she was taunted for having a flat chest at college.
She says she was shamed for being skinny and felt even worse when scrolling through social media and being bombarded with curvaceous Kardashian-esque figures. Desperate to put on weight and gain a curvier figure, she started buying weight-gaining supplements and syrups off Instagram - with no idea what ingredients were in them.
The insecure teen tried to manifest her perfect curvy body by sticking her ideal Kardashian frame on her mirror and listened to subliminal ‘perfect chest’ videos. Clara even debated having a boob job but ultimately decided against it after thorough research.
She decided to embrace her slender figure, "non-existent boobs," and has started uploading body positivity content on social media. Clara, a content creator, living in Toronto, Canada, but originally from Hanoi, Vietnam, said: “I kept waiting for my breasts to come, but they never came.
“I was so different for a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me. All the boys knew me as the flat-chested girl and I couldn’t win.
"They would tease me for wearing padded push-up bras but if I didn’t wear a bra, they would tease me for being flat. I felt like I was ugly and I was lacking something.”
The teen used to wear baggy clothes to hide her skinniness and flat-chest. During trips to the beach she wouldn’t dare wear a bikini and hid under a towel.
She followed toxic social media accounts teaching girls they could manifest their dream bodies and chests. “I was going through a very dark time, I was heavily into social media and I was obsessed with having a curvy figure with a tiny waist," Clara said.
“I looked at pictures of these bodies all the time and I was into ‘body manifestation’. I would watch videos titled ‘how to manifest the perfect chest’ and listen to subliminal audio clips that were meant to help you get a bigger chest.
"I realise now that was never going to work, but at the time I was desperate and would have tried anything." Clara who weighs 6st 7lbs had a picture of her ‘dream body’ stuck on her mirror that she looked at every day in the name of manifestation.
It was of a curvy woman boasting a Kylie Jenner-shaped body with big boobs, big bum and tiny waist. By the time she turned 18, she decided she wanted a 'boob job' like her best friend at the time, who had undergone a breast enhancement procedure going from an A-cup to a D-cup.
Clara trawled the internet and watched countless videos on YouTube about the procedure. After three months of research, she decided the risks outweighed the benefits.
This was the turning point for Clara and she knew if she wasn’t going to surgically alter her body she would have to learn to accept it. In February 2019, she started uploading videos on YouTube to document her journey to self-acceptance.
“I started accepting myself and now I feel amazing about how I look. I’m at a point I not only accept how I look, but I also love how I look," Clara said.
“I practice what I preach. As soon as I started producing body positivity content, I could feel my confidence grow.
“I look at myself with love and gratitude instead of criticism, hate and disgust.” Clara said relatives unknowingly made her feel insecure about her looks as they would call her ‘skinny’ or a ‘twig’.
Despite her BMI labelling her as underweight, Clara eats whatever she wants and her body remains the same weight. She added: “People are a lot more aware of fat-shaming and know bigger people already suffer a lot but this isn’t applied to smaller people.
“There is a generalisation that skinny people don’t have body image issues and are happy to be skinny or they think it’s a compliment. We shouldn’t comment on anyone’s body.
"Skinny-shaming is so prevalent, people don’t think it’s wrong.” Clara says trying to love herself and gain confidence wasn't an overnight fix, rather a process.
“I never touch a bra anymore. I love showing off my body in bodycon dresses.
"I finally love myself and I’m so happy to help other people overcome their body confidence issues." Clara is now an ambassador for self-love sharing body positivity videos on TikTok and advice on how people can feel comfortable in their own skin.
Top tips for finding self-love
- Recognise what your triggers are; this could be unrealistic beauty standards on social media or somebody that body shames you.
- Unfollow or mute everyone on social media that worsens that insecurity or distance yourself physically from people that shame you.
- Follow people with the same body type as you.
- Start wearing clothes that show off your body and embrace your natural beauty.
- Start writing a journal to assess why you are insecure and what makes you feel insecure. It’s not you it’s society.
