I had a weird situation happen at work and not sure how to approach.
I’ve been working at a marketing agency for about 6 months now. It’s a smaller company (<100 people), but there’s a big gap between the Partners & Principals, who are all aged 50+, and everyone else, who are mostly under 35.
The other day, we had a team meeting of about six people. At the end of the meeting, Trudy (60f, partner) looked at me inquisitively and asks in front of everyone: “you look thinner, have you lost weight?”
I laughed and joked that my stomach hurt the previous week so maybe I had lost some pounds. The conversation ended after that and no one said anything else.
Some background: I’m by no means fat or super skinny, but my weight does tend to fluctuate. I have struggled heavily with an eating disorder and body image issues. I also am not actively trying to lose weight right now. I’ve recently gotten to a better place with my ED, but this comment totally threw me off.
First, I am not close or even work-friends with Trudy—I rarely work with her and she’s so high up that we never interact. She actually mispronounced my name for the first two months I worked here. Second, it was in front of my whole team that I do work with on a regular basis and it was embarrassing. And lastly, I didn’t expect this comment to affect me so much in the moment but the last week since it happened I’ve noticed myself judging my body more, eating less and questioning how others perceive my body.
I know it’s probably not a big deal, but this is also not the first time Trudy has made weight-based or body-based comments to someone in our office. This comment/question was actually pretty tame for her……
Our company is small and known for spreading gossip. We also do not have an HR since we are such a small company. I don’t want to get her in trouble or blow it out of proportions but I also don’t think I can take another comment from her without feeling bad again.
Any advice on what to do?