Body Shaming

We all have our insecurities regarding overweight, our socio-economic status, our physical appearance, or our job. We all experience the emotions associated with the feeling of being insecure.

"True beauty lies in embracing who you are, not in meeting the expectations of others. Let go of the weight of judgment and find strength in self-love and confidence."

What can only make our insecurities worse is when other people take advantage of them. When an individual highlights our weakness through the joke or normal, it can become a person’s greatest fear as It can bring out your emotions lead you on the path of Embarrassments, Anxiety, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Low self-esteem, Low self-worth, Low self-Image, etc. Say for example, on a group of friends you are the one who is overweight and they use to call you “Fatty, Penguin, Panda etc”. For them it is normal and you also know that it is normal in a group. They adore and admire you still it will enlist as body shaming and it affects you mentally and physically. You go on and follow the specific diet list so that you can get rid of these particular nicknames.

But what is this body shaming? The person who is given these nicknames is aware or not, but they are the reason for your mental suffering. “Capitalizing on an individual’s insecurities or it is the act or practice of humiliating a person based on their Body Type, Size, Shape, Style, Clothing Choices, Hair Style, and Makeup, etc”. It refers to a person’s physical appearance but it can negatively affect both mental and physical aspects of a person’s life.

Due to the strong presence of social media in our everyday’s life, we are addicted daily to images of perceived perfectionism; public image is noted upon through public comments and likes which gave you feedback, both negative and positive. This term is called Pop Culture. This tends them to diet, exercise, and fashion trend to pave the way for how a person looks and they considered them to be ‘cool’

Body shaming manifests in many ways: 1) Criticizing your appearances, through a judgment or comparison to another person. 2) Criticizing another’s appearance in front of them. 3) Criticizing another’s appearance without their knowledge.

This body-shaming impacts mental health issues like I said before, some of the issues include; 1. Social anxiety: When you are publicly bullied or the natural response. This can culminate into isolating itself and avoiding social interaction. 2. Depression: When you feel lonely and sorry for one develop into a state of depression. It increases feelings of self-image, self-worth etc. 3. Eating disorder: It is a really funny term for you but it is, in reality, the onset of unhealthy eating habits due to feelings of loss of control and low self-esteem. The act of binging and purging is called Bulimia while the act of refuse to eat anything is called Anorexia.

The serious mental and physical impact that body shaming can have on an individual, young or old, is reason enough to understand why bullying someone else’s appearance is not appropriate or kind. It s not funny, no more jokes, please! The fantastic thing about humanity is that we’re all different individuals. We come in all shapes and sizes, and no two of us are the same. Having lived a life where people constantly asking me that why I am so chubby? Why I am overweight? "Please put off your weight" etc. First, I am comfortable with the way I look. I have a self positivity not everyone has. We are not answerable to anyone; the way we look is quite frankly nobody else’s business. The people are talking on your back or face, doesn’t matter. It is just fuel to the fire.

Body shaming seems to be high, with the advent of social media and the ability to pass comments on people you hardly know. People are stress over such a wrong message. Women have such a hard time feeling. Different is beautiful. Not perfect is beautiful. Happy is beautiful. Confidence is beautiful. Don’t let others bring you down or tell you who you are? Like you ever before.

Nothing else matters. What you see is what you get. Look in the mirror and be happy with what you see. Your opinion of yourself is the only option that counts. Everything else doesn’t matter. Someone is around you if they are insecure about looks and comments. Please give them your emotional support.