Dear It Works!, you don't determine my "sexy"

Dear It Works!,

There are some things you should know about our relationship. I began my partnership with you two and a half years ago (I think?), and was amazed by how I saw my body change with the first wrap I ever tried. I had no preconceived notions--no one where I lived had ever even heard of It Works! before and I had simply decided to try it out after I found you online and researched The Ultimate Body Applicator. And...it worked. It literally showed me the results I had been working towards for quite a while. Results that I believe were probably due to finally being able to get toxins out of me even though I'd been doing INSANITY and even a medically supervised weight loss diet prior to finding you. The wraps were a tool, and it was such a relief for me to finally see what I'd already been working on. Thank you for that.

I can't tell you the number of people I've wrapped who cried when I took it off at the 45 minute mark. Women who told me stories of how they hadn't been able to be intimate with their husbands for a long time because of their self esteem problems since pregnancy. Women who told me stories of being fat shamed since childhood.

But here's where the problem lies: you are fat shaming women. And you are skinny shaming them, too. Because here's what happens. You suggest that distributors walk up to women who they don't know, and hand them a business type card that says "Get Your Sexy Back!" on it. You have distributors take before/after photos of people at parties and wrap groups of women at parties, and then the thinner women at those parties hear comments about how they're "too skinny already" and "oh my gosh, I can't believe you just got smaller after doing that wrap--that's sickening".

What happens to the woman bombarded by a distributor who is nervous and really wants a relationship with the unsuspecting woman, but instead holds her breath in hopes that she'll book a party and hands her a card, instead? And what does it say to a woman when your reply to how rude you think she just acted is "listen, I'm not saying you need it. I just know that everyone wants it." Now you have just told a woman that if she does want it, then she thinks she isn't sexy enough, and that if she doesn't want it, then she'll never be sexy enough.

Don't get me started on the women who don't see a result with their first wrap. Or the women who seemed to never get a result at all--which always puzzled me until recently when I found out that if you have a diastasis recti (pretty much EVERY woman who has been pregnant), you could EASILY have that "mommy pooch". Meaning, a wrap isn't going to put your muscles back together, so you will still have that "pooch" unless you do physical therapy for it. Did you know this? And if you did, why didn't you ever tell your distributors that?

You can't sell a product by shaming women. And yes, you are shaming them by implying that they have lost their "sexy." Here's what's happening, It Works!. People are having pretty strong negative feelings about these marketing tactics. Marketing psychology will tell you that the classical conditioning happening with those negative feelings and your slogans will soon become negative feelings associated with your black and green bling instead. Tools that I really do like and really do help people aren't going to be used anymore, because they aren't tools--they're "fix it quick because you suck the way you are" products.

Forget the diabetics I've seen who got their blood sugars points lower after every meal by taking Fat Fighter. Forget the people with adrenal fatigue who felt better on Confianza. Forget that I actually don't see a change with your wraps anymore (baby #3, and a diastasis recti for sure now!), but that I lose weight without even trying when I faithfully take the Greens and It's Vital. Forget all of that, because I can't even tell people that anymore!

I want to tell people about all of the good things I see in you, but I really don't want to be associated with a company who tells women that they're not enough. I know that makeup and any product that alters your physical appearance can be considered that...but I don't sell those (and there's a reason for that!). I'm ok with people wanting to change their appearance (have you ever seen someone judge another person because they dyed their hair? Not so much.), but I'm not ok with telling them they aren't sexy. That there is something wrong with them. That they aren't beautiful the way they are.

You see, It Works!, I don't know if we can continue our relationship or not. Because I want a relationship with people. I want them to know that while there are things that can help all of us physically, mentally, socially, monetarily, spiritually...that they don't need any of those helpful things to give them worth. You see, women are already worthy. And tighter skin or firmer bellies doesn't increase that worth. If they want to change their bodies, that's fine, but you need to stay out of determining who is worthy and who is not, and you need to stop associating how a person looks with their worth or sexiness. Having saggy skin or a soft belly doesn't take away your sexiness, but shaming women does.

So It Works!, I suggest that you get your sexy back, because you are losing it, and I only want to be in the business of building people up.

Signed,
an embarrassed distributor

*Note: the comments in here are my opinion only. They aren't affiliated with the company, are not approved of by the FDA, and I am not making claims, promises, or even associations between products and medical conditions or anything else here. The ONLY claims about these products that can be made are listed on the ItWorks! website, in their marketing materials, and on the products themselves.*