Feminism For Teens, Fat-Phobic Friends & Feeling Neglected

This week in the Dear Clementine inbox:

• My eldest daughter is almost 13 and I really want to start giving her some age-appropriate feminist books. I’m wondering what books you think would have been beneficial for you at this age? If you could go back in time, which books would you have given your 13-year-old self? 
• Recently one of my super close & also fat girlfriends confided in me that she and her boyfriend spend a lot of time talking about their friends. This included a night spent talking exclusively about how my ‘boob to ass ratio is all wrong’, followed with a lot of jokes about my body shape. She told me this as if it were perfectly normal & even funny. I’m angry because I shared my insecurities with her & now she’s using it as a source of entertainment for her and her boyfriend. How do I approach them about this or are they projecting their relationship troubles on me – should I just leave it be? 
• I’m feeling angry with my family. I live in Scotland & my family lives in Germany. Because of the pandemic, I wasn’t able to see them for 2 years. When I was able to visit them, I was disappointed because it felt like all the attention was on my 2yo niece, even my mum had no time for me & I wasn’t able to have the heart to heart I was hoping for (& so badly needed) because she was so busy. On top of this, I am always the one reaching out to them – they’re never the ones to get in touch. I feel like a jealous, needy idiot for feeling neglected, but I also don’t think they appreciate how hard the last 2 years have been on my own, struggling with depression, living through the pandemic. How do I move forward? 

If you have a question for Clementine, send her an email at dearclementine@novapodcasts.com.au

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