Society in this day and age focuses so much on looks and how women should dress and present themselves – a large number of the people we are supposed to look up to and idolize. Do you ever stop to give a thought about how many times we are told to change our looks or appearances in magazines, TV, or any outlet of social media? They constantly offer tips on how to lose weight “in so days”, appear slimmer “instantly”, get that curvy body “in a night” and hide our imperfections without actually knowing anything about us, much less our appearance. This is one example of body shaming, and it is everywhere.

Body shaming or fat/thin shaming is the same as bullying, whether it be in person, or online. It is the act or practice of negatively judging someone based on their typical appearance. Typically, people are body shamed when they appear overweight/underweight or don’t fit into society’s view of “thin and beautiful”. Our culture loves the ideology of the perfect body, whether it be in print, movies, television, or online. Seeing someone who doesn’t fit the mould isn’t considered acceptable to some.

Ways in Which Body-Shaming Manifests

1. Criticizing your own appearance through judgment or comparison to another person. (like saying… “I’m so ugly compared to her.” “Look at how big my legs are.”)

2. Criticizing another person’s appearance in front of them, (like saying… “With those thighs, you’re never going to find a man.”)

3. Criticizing another person’s appearance without their knowledge. (like saying… “Did you see what she was wearing today? Not flattering.” “At least you don’t look like her!”)

No matter how this manifests, it often leads to comparison and shame and perpetuates the idea that people should be judged mainly for their physical features.

Making anyone feel ashamed of their body won’t motivate them to lose or gain weight. On the contrary, it will produce a boomerang effect. There is no middle ground with body shaming and this needs to stop ASAP!

We are witnesses to body shaming on social media. Most contents suggest that you are far from the slim magazine-cover-type. From the perspective of social media, you are always going to be either too skinny, chubby, too hairy, or busty.

Sadly, a great deal of us get the message we are never going to be accepted, desirable or beautiful, if we don’t fit into the mould, we are going to become an object of verbal abuse and bullying. Being aware of the harmful effects this is causing will make you never, ever scoff at anyone for the way they look again and help you accept yourself just the way you are, for the sake of your mental health.

Effects of Body-Shaming

1. A Total Crush of Self-Esteem and Confidence

Most obese people experience verbal abuse due to their physical appearance. People mock their food choices, make presumptions, etc. Don’t buy their ‘’health activism” attitude as it’s nothing but bullying. Listening to hurtful words about oneself can feed the self-hatred obese people feel already. On the other hand, we can apply this to anorexic people, too. Patters are the same, as well as the responses.

Thinking negative comments about one’s physical appearance would end once this person makes a change is completely wrong, instead the reality is totally opposite. The list of attributes one has to meet in order to be perfect is endless. Spinning in this circle makes you feel like you are never enough. The more you try, the more of your flaws come to the forefront. This crushes one’s confidence to the point it’s almost impossible to take back.

No matter what you do, you are never going to meet everyone’s expectations. Yet, even if you would be able to, would it be worth all the trauma that follows? If you are a victim of this, you can learn how to overcome low self-esteem.

2. Poorer Overall Health

Weight discrimination and fat-shaming can cause stress, which further leads to gaining/losing weight. Yet, more importantly, massive weight loss or gain can trigger other health issues, mostly Chronic Diseases.

Increased cortisol levels, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cardiac conditions, and myocardial infection are just a few risks people going through stress due to body shaming are exposed to. We live in a hectic world where stressful life events occur on daily basis. Any additional stress can trigger worsen our condition, especially with people that are already facing verbal abuse.

These conditions can only get worse under the pressure of unrealistic, cruel beauty standards and, body shaming on social media.

3. Denying Oneself Leads to Mental Illness

You have people struggling with exercise bulimia (excessive, compulsive exercising that negatively affects their health) and anorexia, eating disorders that have to do a lot with one’s mental health. Body-shaming a person who deals with these conditions can cause them to feel worse about themselves.

Treating a person with exercise bulimia terribly convicting is just an extremely rude act towards someone who is coping with a disease that has taken over their body and mind. Anorexia nervosa is an already life-threatening condition so why would anyone contribute to making this person feel even worse?

Bullying contributes to sticking to unhealthy behaviours even more. In some cases, it makes the person think they have little to no control over their body or life. On the other hand, there is BED – Binge Eating. It is characterized by eating a huge amount of food in a short time span even if a person doesn’t feel the urge to eat. The major trigger to BED is emotional stress, one tries to suffocate by eating uncontrollably.

Yet, what follows is even worse. One can feel ashamed, lost like they have no control over themselves, similar to what happens with exercise bulimia.

Why Body Shaming Needs to Stop

• It is not a way of expressing concern or encouragement. Is it tough love or helpful? It is often judgmental health advice.
• Studies show in the last couple of years proved that the constant mention of one’s physical appearance causes stress and denial in that person.
• We all should accept one’s right to live a life they want without humiliating them for their choices on their body image.
• There is no such thing as an ideal body or ideal weight.
• Shamers aren’t comfortable in their skin either and thus, need to show more social acceptance towards others while accepting themselves too.
• Not to mention, body shaming keeps alive stigmas and social division in society. This draws a line between people who count and who don’t count, the lovable and the unlovable.
• Discriminating anyone due to their weight can cause depression (especially people with severe obesity) and trigger a whole list of mental issues. What is more? Obese people are up to 12 times more likely to commit suicide and 21 times more prone to suicidal behaviour than other categories.

Conclusion

Shaming someone based on their healthy/unhealthy choices is unacceptable. We can never know what someone is going through, thus we should not judge but offer compassion. Who gave us the right to make comments on how people look? After all, doing so speaks for our own insecurities. Body shaming needs to stop, now! Let’s try to be more comfortable, in peace with our bodies, and show more kindness towards each other. Allow yourselves to let your guards down and embrace yourself and other people regardless of their shapes and sizes.