Body Shaming
Body shaming has become one of problem most people in the world face. Body shaming has become an issue since it is being propagated by cosmetic industries that provide adverts that get in the mind s of the people. The end up doing successful advertisements since they show every one of how imperfect they are and provide the solution. Body shaming happens on several fronts, first is the media, specifically the programs and advertisements that showing people they lack the perfect body due to weight or complexion. The second happens in social media, where if one posts a picture of themselves, they receive negative and humiliating comments about their weight or size. The other front is from our friends and relative who, at times, give compliments or comments innocently without knowing the impact they have on people.
As body-shaming becomes a social tradition in society, it leads to a lot of pressure and other health-related problems to the victims (Ramos, 2020). Body shaming has only negative effects on people, such as low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders. Body shaming can happen in many forms; therefore, to understand how to address body shaming, it is crucial to know the various forms of body shaming.
Types of Body Shaming
Body shaming occurs in different types, but the most common ones are:
Fat Shaming
Fat shaming is the most common and origin of body shaming. Fat shaming is the act of posting or saying negative comments about a person because of their weight or size (Judi, 2020). The act can be described as bullying and discrimination, which has negative impacts on the victims. The act perpetrators are jealous since they do not know the story behind a person being overweight. Such acts negatively impact the victims since they feel disgusted about themselves, and the result can be devastating. The victim can slip into depression or eating disorders, trying to address their weight or size. Fat-shaming comes with comment or post like ” why are you overweight?”, “you cannot get a boyfriend or a girlfriend with such weight.” People who perpetrate such shaming are bullies who are not contented with their size, and it is also a foolish act to do.
Skinny Shaming
Skinny shaming is the opposite of fat-shaming and is also devastating. The act involves bullying and discriminating against people because they are thin or skinny (Judi, 2020). In the world, people are created differently, and some cannot help with their skinny nature. Therefore it is not right for them to be victims of something they cannot control. Skinny shaming is characterized by comments like “are you sick or well?”, “you should eat more,” and ladies comment like “men love meat not bones” can be heard. Before judging and humiliating someone, one should know what they are going through and understand that body size is not what defines people in society. Skinny shaming has the same effects as fat shamming. The victims can start cursing themselves because of their bodies, isolate themselves, depression, and improper eating habits that may cause more harm to their bodies.
Labeling
Another common type of body shaming is labeling—labeling people with certain bodies as real and other as unreal. Labeling in women happens when real women are categorized as those with curves, and the skinny and thin are considered not real (Judi, 2020). Labeling people as real and others as unreal does not make them less people, and the act should stop. In men, labeling happens when masculine men with abs are considered real men, and those obese and fat are considered unreal. Such a mentality is embedded in the people to the extent that the masculine men are considered handy, and the fat one considered lazy and disgusting. In life, people are blessed differently, and therefore both the “real and unreal” men can be effective in their way since all people are not created the same.
The other form of body shaming is praising weight loss. Such comment may seem positive, but the intended message comes differently since one will consider that what the comment means is that you were overweight before, which is also another form of body shaming.
All these body-shaming types have devastating effects on the victims like depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. Apart from those effects, there are also effect like putting life on hold to acquire the perfect body. For example, one can say I cannot starting dating until I lose some weight. The other effect is restricting what to wear because of the size of the body. For example, one may stop wearing their favorite attire because they feel they have gained weight and will not feel confident enough (Judi, 2020). They also care about what other people will say about their looks. Such negativity makes them stop wearing their favorite clothes because of the opinion of others.
How to Stop Body Shaming
Body shaming among people can be stopped in several different ways. First, since it has been rampant among young children who are not comfortable with their weight and size, parents and teachers should teach them how to be comfortable with their sizes. The teachers and parents can help children in the following ways:
Advice the young boy and girls to recognize their body cycle (Girl scouts, 2016). Therefore they should know that their bodies will not be young forever, and there will be transitions as they grow. They may not like their bodies during certain periods, and the media will be giving all sorts of information about bodies, be it overweight or skinny. Therefore they should embrace the changes that happen in their lives and be comfortable with the size they will have. With such information, the young children will grow knowing about body shaming and not be intimidated by the body shames.
The other thing is to ensure the little children see themselves in you (Girl scouts, 2016). That means they will watch how you, as a parent or teacher, have dealt with body shaming and follow in your footstep. Therefore parents and teachers should be considerate about what they talk about other people’s bodies since the young ones are watching and listening; when the children observe how the elderly deal with body shaming, they will follow in the footstep. Therefore they will not body shame others and will not be intimidated by body shames. That way, body shaming will stop as the generation grows.
Parents and teachers can also do for the young generation to curb the diet and skinny talk (Girl scouts, 2016). Parents should concentrate on teaching the young ones how to live healthy lifestyles but not intimidate them with how skinny or diet checks they should enforce. Through such talks, the children will grow knowing how to handle their bodies and not be susceptible to body shames, and in the process, body shaming will stop.
The other thing the parents and teachers can do is help the children tell what fit and fiction is. Through such talks, the children will not be intimidated by the media advertisement with their version of fit, which in most cases, is fiction (Girl scouts, 2016). The other thing is to appreciate the young generation tell them they are beautiful and handsome since such talks build confidence in them. They will not be intimidated by opinions from body shames.
The second step to stopping body-shaming is checking on media usage. Media is the biggest perpetrators of body shaming. As much as celebrities are coming out to condemn body shaming in the media, the users should also regulate media usages to avoid falling victims. That can be achieved through the following ways:
Both men and women should filter on who and what to follow on social media platforms (Fuller, 2019). The media is comprised of many hashtag tags that are misleading to most people. Such hashtags include #nomakeup, #nofilter, #body positivity, among others. In these hashtags, there are models with what is considered a perfect body. These pictures create a mindset in people that their bodies are not perfect. Pressure increases among the people to create a body like that, and since most of these pictures are fiction, the result is depression to the viewers. Therefore such hashtags should be avoided because body shaming will stop since there will be no one to fall victim.
People should also set limits and boundaries on what to watch and the time to spend watching (Fuller, 2019). One can create a schedule where they will not spend more than thirty minutes on social media. Ensure to follow the routine to the latter. That way, one will not be idle to venture into body shaming sites. During the extra time, one is advised to take time to do other constructive things like taking a walk, exercising, and other activities that will take their mind off social media. Such activities will ensure one is not a victim of body shaming, and with the process, body shaming will stop even in social media.
People can do to stop body shaming with compassion for themselves and others (Fuller, 2019). That means everyone should be considerate about their activities on social media. That is, one should carefully choose what to post and how to deliver the message. One may intend to spread a good message, but the message is received in the wrong way by the followers. Concern for other people will help in a big way to stop body shaming. Concern for other people and yourself will ensure that the cyberbullies in social media are identified and reported. With the courts’ cases and the authorities, the bullies and discriminators will be punished, which will serve as a lesson to others. With such steps, body shaming in the media and life will stop.
Conclusion
Body shaming has been considered a social tradition in society. The act has been spread by cosmetic industries that feed people with what they deem are their problems and benefit from offering the solution. The media has also been at the forefront of spreading body-shaming messages. Therefore it is time those acts stop by controlling the media and reporting cases of body shaming. Teachers and parents have the role of helping young children advise on how to ignore body shaming and appreciate their bodies. The same applies to other people; they should ignore media information and create time to do things that put them off from media body shaming. Those acts will ensure body-shaming stops permanently.
References
Fuller, K. (2019). Reducing Body-Shaming by Learning to Engage in Positive Social Media. anad.org. https://anad.org/education-and-awareness/body-image/body-image-articles/reducing-shaming/
Girl Scouts. (2016). Help us stop body shaming in its tracks. Girl Scouts of the USA. https://www.girlscouts.org/en/raising-girls/happy-and-healthy/happy/body-shaming-girls.html
Judi. (2020, March 4). Six body-shaming behaviors that will surprise you. Heart Your Body. https://www.heartyourbody.co.uk/6-body-shaming-behaviours-will-surprise/
Ramos, P. (2020). Sign the petition. Change.org. https://www.change.org/p/people-fat-skinny-and-fabulous-the-no-body-shaming-campaign