'I've 繰り返して been mistaken for my date's child': Writer in her 30s says her 5ft でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる and youthful looks make people think she's 12 as she 明らかにする／漏らすs 存在 asked if she has an eating disorder and if she wears 'doll 着せる／賦与するs'

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Many would surely love to look 20 years younger than their actual age without using cosmetics or plastic 外科, but for Melanie Bell, an adult in her 30s with a career as a writer, it’s no fun getting mistaken for a 12-year-old.

Bell, an author who migrated from Canada to the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs before finally settling in the 部隊d Kingdom, 解任するs how she is often mistaken for her date’s daughter while 存在 carded at 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s and asked if she’s old enough to go through airport 安全 alone

‘I have always been small compared to my peers,’ Bell 令状s in Huffington 地位，任命する.

Melanie Bell is an author and creative writer who looks far younger than 30

Bell wrote of her 失望／欲求不満 of 存在 絶えず mistaken for someone nearly 20 years younger

Bell said that people often think that she is her date's young daughter

‘As a child, I was 終始一貫して one of the shortest in my class, lagging behind the others when we ran （競技場の）トラック一周s in gym.

‘I would get asked if I was one or two years younger than my age, which irritated me but only to a point.

‘On good days, I’d imagine myself as Cinderella 予定 to my uncommonly small shoe size.

‘Once I became older, the perceived gap 増加するd 劇的な. My friends filled out while I remained spindly.

‘I was given the freshman 愛称 “Itty-Bitty,” and people began calling me “tiny” as a 事柄 of course.’

Bell is perfectly healthy. She has not been told by a doctor that she 苦しむs from any sort of growth hormone 欠陥／不足.

‘Bu t, I do have a confluence of genetic markers that signal 青年: a 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 直面する, slight bone structure, 極小の chest 鮮明度／定義, and wide 注目する，もくろむs,’ she 令状s.

‘These are all features I can’t change.’

Bell says she is perfectly healthy and does not を煩う any 欠陥／不足 in human growth hormone

Bell also has a youthful complexion that that would make others envy her

Bell 令状s that she has 親族s on both 味方するs of her family whose 高さ reached 5ft.

早期に in her mother’s marriage, she, too, was mistaken for her husband’s daughter, によれば Bell.

It appears the apple doesn’t 落ちる far from the tree.

Bell 令状s: ‘Getting IDed is a 事柄 of course for me: “That’s really your age? Are you sure? Hahaha, you must get IDed all the time!”’

She 令状s that she has tried to keep a sense of humor about it, but it has been challenging since her 返答s to ‘nosy strangers’ who 問い合わせ about her age have left them ‘looking 混乱させるd.’

‘I have 試みる／企てるd to 改善する my 信用／信任 and posture with little 影響; it’s hard to stand tall when I have to look up to speak to everyone, no 事柄 how straight my spine,’ she 令状s.

In Western countries, adults who enter their 30s, 40s, and 50s spend hours and large sums of money to look and feel young, but Bell 令状s that no one should envy her.

‘“You’re so lucky,” people tell me as they roll their 注目する，もくろむs jealously whenever I について言及する getting IDed or mistaken for a preteen,’ she 令状s.

‘I want to tell them that they’d change their minds if they were the ones who had heard infantilizing 発言／述べるs for over three １０年間s.

But Bell also 令状s that she is tired of 存在 asked for ID in airports and 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s

‘Would they enjoy 繰り返して 存在 mistaken for a date’s child or asked if they were old enough to sit in an airplane’s 出口 列／漕ぐ／騒動?’

When she was getting her Master’s degree, she said she was asked: ‘Are you starting junior high next year?’

People would often mistake her for her brother’s little sister, even though she is five years older than him. That’s because he’s 6ft tall.

‘状況／情勢s like that one make me want to ask people who 主張する that a youthful 外見 is a gift: Would you 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる having your 教育の 成果／努力s and experience 減ずるd or erased with a ちらりと見ること?’ she 令状s.

‘Maybe they would - but I’m sick of it.’

Bell 令状s that she experiences peace when reading emails from 同僚s who 扱う／治療する her like an adult ? though that’s because ‘they can’t see my 直面する.’

の中で the most unpleasant things Bell has been told is that she 苦しむs from an eating disorder and that she wears ‘doll 着せる／賦与するs.’

‘Others 辞退する to believe that I hear the things I hear, or tell me these comments shouldn’t bother me because “of course you look 12”,’ she 令状s.

‘I may look young, but I’m old enough to 認める that these comments are neither helpful nor 建設的な.

‘Many of us are culturally 条件d to feel insecure about our 団体／死体s.

‘That’s no excuse to make derogatory comments about how other people look.

Bell also 令状s of the 苦痛 of 存在 '団体／死体 shamed' with people wondering if she had an eating disorder

Others also make hurtful comments by asking if she wears 'doll 着せる／賦与するs'

‘いつかs I look in the mirror and have trouble taking myself 本気で or connecting the 発言する／表明する inside my 長，率いる with the elfin creature looking 支援する at me.’

Bell 令状s that she has relied on a few ‘切り開く／タクシー／不正アクセスs’ to 最小限に減らす the problem.

‘Dressing in 商売／仕事 着せる／賦与するs while traveling, wearing 大規模な 壇・綱領・公約 heels when an occasion 許すs, relying on tailored items, darker colors, bold lipstick, and keeping my hair short have all, at least on occasion, seemed to silence questions,’ she 令状s.

She 令状s that the COVID-19 pandemic, which has kept many indoors and 限られた／立憲的な social interactions to the online space, has 供給するd one 利益 to her ? she is いっそう少なく likely to be 裁判官d by her 団体／死体.

‘It seems in a world where anyone might be 有能な of 感染させるing someone else, public 発言／述べるs on each other’s 団体／死体s have dwindled for a time,’ she 令状s.

‘Ironically, while a respiratory illness floats around the globe, I breathe more easily.

‘My physical 関心s are 焦点（を合わせる）d on 衛生設備, eating 井戸／弁護士席, and 演習ing ? keeping myself healthy in the ways that I can.’?