Body shaming is when we make any negative or an awful comment about someone’s appearance. For example: their clothes, makeup, age, height, size, hair, weight. Both men & women are vulnerable to body shaming. But, women & girls are more prone to it. The act of body shaming can be done in person or remotely via the internet or social media platforms. Most of the time, it’s carried out by our loved ones. For example: family, relatives, friends and sometimes by the people whom we don’t know. It’s because we lives in a judgemental society. So, people always going to judge you for the way how you look and present yourself in front of other people.
Various reasons why people might be body shamed :
1.Height:
One of the most general reason why people are body shamed is because of their height. Some people might be body shamed for being “too tall” or “too short”. Height- shaming comments are ones like ” who will marry you with such a short height “, “You’re not wearing heels today so people can’t see you,” or, “How can you drive?
Comments are also made on people with taller height. People say mean things about their height too.
2.Weight:
People are also body shamed because of their weight. People say mean things to the people who are skinny or obese. For example : “too fat”, “why are you so skinny”, ” why are you so fat”, “she needs to eat!” etc.
3. Makeup:
Some people use makeup to enhance their facial feature. Some apply it because they love to do so or it’s their passion. But people receive mean comments about makeup too.
Comments such as say ” you wear too much makeup”, “See? you look so good without makeup on!” and many more.
4.Food:
Food shaming generally means when people makes inappropriate comments about your food eating habits. For example : how much we are eating or what we are eating. All this makes us feel bad about our food choices. Comments like ” you know that’s unhealthy, right?”, ” Are you eating again?” , etc.
5. Social Media:
Nowadays, people are so engrossed in social media that they forgot the difference between virtual & real life. People starts comparing themselves or other to the images of individuals , celebrities, influencers, etc. they see on social media platform.
When their unrealistic expectations are not met they start shaming people regarding their looks. Unfortunately, people forget that the images they get to see on social media platform are edited and altered.
Effects of body shaming:
People do not think twice while saying harsh things about someone’s appearance. Body shaming can really take a toll on mental health and overall being.
1. Depression:
Hearing negative things about your appearance may result in anxiety & depression. As a result, you may try to avoid socializing with people anymore. Since it impacts you mentally and creates self-doubt and insecurities regarding the way you look. Thus, it may damage your self-esteem.
2. Eating disorder:
Receiving negative comments about your looks may result in eating disorder. For example: anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating. People starts following a strict diet to look in a certain way and to achieve a certain type of size, body.
Therefore, it deprives your body needs which are essential for your overall health and well being.
3. Self-harm:
When a person get bullied by other, the self-esteem level of that person rocks the bottom. A person starts feeling insecure about oneself. Even they start doubting on their capabilities. Thus, it leads to the situation where people try to harm themselves .
4. Emotional breakdown:
People may feel worthless, guilty , mad , etc. when people receives mean comments about their looks Therefore, people may experience emotional distress about it.
5. Doing excessive exercise:
Being active is essential for staying healthy. But doing exercise excessively can be harmful for your body. It can lead to fatigue, trigger anxiety, depression, or irritability. Excessive exercising can progress into a syndrome called Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).
This syndrome occurs when your calorie intake is not sufficient for the amount of energy you are expending to maintain healthy functioning.
Hence, people needs to understand this thing that how words can impact people’s lives in a negative way. It can make them anxious about how they look and it impacts their confidence level. We need to stop body shaming as every body deserves to be loved and appreciated irrespective of body type ,size, color, etc.