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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/EuphoricPeak on 2023-09-09 16:53:49.

A while ago I (F) went out on a trail with a friend I’ve known since childhood. In every selfie we took together, she was initially standing next to me but kept shifting herself slightly behind me. I kept moving backwards to stand actually next to her, and every time I tried she’d move backwards further.

I asked out of curiosity “why are you standing behind me?” and she said she wasn’t - in quite a shifty way. I went home, thought no more of it, and decided if she did it again I just wouldn’t take photos with her.

I think she was doing it so she could look thinner than me. I’ve seen her in group table photos move further back, saying she doesn’t want to be “the fat one at the front”.

She has always been much thinner than me, so I don’t know why she’d do this except to look even thinner in photos, at my expense. Requiring me to be “the fat one at the front”, as she would put it. I get we all want to look our best in photos, but something about this felt really gross and disrespectful.

Then last month a different friend started doing exactly the same thing on a night out. What is this? Is this a thing? Has anyone else experienced it?

Edit: thanks everyone. Both are people who are insecure about their weight, and I am too, which is definitely playing into this. I understand that they’re not doing it to make me look bad. It was just a tactic I hadn’t come across before and I didn’t really like it.

I should also clarify that when I’m saying ‘behind me’, I mean they’re still standing next to me, but moving themselves further back.