Bashing someone for their body type is a heinous act. Passing comments about another individual’s body is not a new thing in today’s world. Criticizing or mocking someone for their physical appearance, body shape and size is body shaming. Body shaming cannot be limited to fat-shaming or thin shaming. Passing negative comments on someone’s height, body shape, hair color, body hair or lack of it, facial features, physical marks and other many things that are seen on another individual’s body comes in the area of body shaming. We have a culture of body shaming in our society for a long time. When someone does not fall under the pre-determined criteria of a perfect body that is being set by society is considered as “so-called ugly”.
“Don’t eat that, you will be fatter”,
“That dress would look more pretty if you had some more flesh on your bones”’
“Does not your parents give you food?”
“You would look more beautiful if you lose some weight”
“HAHA you are so hairy”
“HAHA you are an adult male and don’t have a beard”
“Her body type does not look like a celebrity body”
These are some common comments we get to hear in our daily life for our bodies. These comments can sound normal but can be one of the main causes of someone’s mental health issue. The act of passing negative comments on someone’s body image is not acceptable. Few kinds of research have shown that more than 60% of eating disorder patients are contributing to body shaming in some stages of their life. We may feel normal to comment on how someone is looking or should look, but we don’t realize that our few words of fun can affect someone in a very bad way. Passing negative comments to someone regarding their body image can bring Depression, anxiety, low self-worth, low self-esteem, body dysmorphia, increase in anger issues, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, fear, and other severe mental health issues. Body-shaming can also bring physical problems to victims.
Following Extreme diet plans, taking pills for getting fit in the ideology of a perfect body, various cosmetic surgeries, etc. has brought many negative effects on the physical health of people. Physical health, mental health, social health, and professional lives of victims can be affected awfully due to body shaming. Sometimes the problem can be so severe that the victim finds no other way than to end their lives. Imagine someone killed themselves just because you called them bulimic, anorexic, hairy, tall, short, etc. This can happen in real if things got serious. Social Media has also contributed to body shaming. It plays an important role in our way of thinking, behaving, dressing styles, and other many things. Social media has brought both negative and positive impacts on our daily life. The culture of body-shaming is being practiced in society for a long time and now social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok have elevated body-shaming more. Social media has made many things public. Every picture, video, thoughts we share on social media is shared publicly where people from various places, backgrounds can like, share and comment. It’s not compulsory that every comment is good. Some people can comment on the body in a derogatory way. Especially celebrities and public figures get more hurtful comments regarding their body image. Not only celebrities but also general people are sensitive to harmful and inappropriate comments regarding body image.
Social media always has the ability to play with the thinking of people. It has the power to influence people’s perspectives on society and themselves. These social media platforms have made us think about our bodies, physical appearances in a more crucial way. Research has found that people involved in social media platforms have to face body image issues frequently. People who do not come under the perfect body trend set on social media are not considered good-looking.
Negative comments about our body make us vulnerable and hate our body. If someone already does not like their body, these comments make things more severe, and we start hating our body more. We have no right to judge someone and pass comments regarding their physical appearance. We are nobody to decide how someone should look. Don’t forget that your words of fun can destroy someone’s peace of mind. People talk, pass comments but the most important thing we should never forget is, “we are more than our body measurements and appearances”. Remember, if we do not love your body then no one will.
Article Credit : Yozana Bhandari
Disclaimer:
Any views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. Any legal information on this topic is intended to give a positive message to the people, and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice. Any contributions from, or references to, external sources (including website links), people’s views, or individuals do not necessarily reflect the views of Lattice Nepal nor receive our endorsement.
