Body-shaming: A social evil

We all know about shaming, and its various types.

So, the term “Body-shaming” is certainly not new to us!

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“You are so skinny!”

“You are so fat!”

“You are so plump!”

“You are so tall!”

“You are so short!”

“I pity you don’t have that perfect hour-glass shape!” … and an eternally long array of similar comments!

We have all heard people passing on such comments on various people or, even, for us. We might also have commented on someone’s body shape similarly at some point in time.

But do you realize that in doing so, you are passing a comment that may elicit laughter from those surrounding you or the person you are commenting on, but you are mocking the way one is naturally built?

A fat man knows about his protruding belly.

A fat girl knows about her flabby arms and stomach, thick thighs, large breasts, her weight, and her overall “round” structure!

A skinny person knows about his bones being visible!

A tall person knows he is tall, and a short person knows he is not taller than many others.

Not everyone is the same, and no one is perfect, but they are unique and special in their own ways! However, all these physical aspects earn people comments on how they are different from the socially determined conventions of perfect body frames.

But, what the society fails to understand is that no one needs validation from someone else about the appropriateness of their body type, commenting on how they should eat more or less, how they should exercise more or less, etc.

And they do not need people joking around about how they are too fat, too skinny, too tall or too short! They are what they are and passing on comments like this is shaming them for how they are structured.

People pass such comments, for, they have a standard Aphrodite-like and Adonis-like body dimensions and shape for women and men, respectively, in their minds.

Any person, who doesn’t fit into these well-known figures becomes the target of body-shaming. People espouse to body-shaming to try to demean the other people and lower their self-esteem and confidence by pointing out their “physical flaws.”

Shaming someone about how they are structured, lowers their self-esteem and confidence. It creates a fear in the mind of people that they will not be accepted in the society if they are not of a particular body type.

This tends to begin a whole string of strict diet-plans, tedious workout schedules, to the extent that they tend to forget their original selves in their desire to become someone completely different so as to be accepted and admired by the society, even if it costs them their health, their self-esteem, and their original identities.

Body-shaming is a social evil that we need to get rid of by respecting people for who they are, irrespective of how they are structured! This will boost their self-confidence and make the world a better place where everyone will be happy with the way they are structured.

By Shubhangi Sharma

Email address: [email protected]