Ever since I turned 8 years old, life had become very difficult for me; because I started gaining weight and everyone started judging me by the way I looked. They’d start saying such mean things that made my life very difficult. I always made excuses not to go to any social event, parties, or wherever I’d see people who would start commenting on my weight. Even my closest friends started making fun of me, and I broke down every time I went through it. Over these last 10-12 years, I have really learnt to accept myself and spread body positivity as much as I can. Body shaming is a type of bullying where innocent people are becoming victims, and are being commented on the way they look. Body shaming does not just humiliate a person, but it affects them in a way that it becomes very hard for them to accept themselves. In today’s generation, it has become very normal to body shame someone on the basis of their looks. No one at all deserves to be treated badly based on the way they look.
What body-shaming looks like?
Body shaming is something that is very easy to notice. It is not easy to tackle it because it does affect your emotions but it is very important to stop it. For instance, if a stranger calls you “you ugly fat ass short b*tch”, it is clear that you have been body shamed. There are many different types of body shaming. Those are; height, skin colour, gender identity, physical/mental disabilities, size and more… Some body shaming can be so precise and it may be said by your family or friends.
Examples of body shaming:
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“You’re so dark”
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“You’re so dumb”
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“You’re so fat, stop eating food and go lose some weight”
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“You’re so thin, do your parents not feed you anything”
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“Don’t go out in the sun, you’ll become dark and no guy will marry you”
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“Are you normal? How can you like guys?”
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“Oh my god, you’re autistic, why didn’t you go to a special school”
How to respond to body shaming?
There’s not much you can do but stand up for yourself, or anyone who is being body-shamed if you can. If you’ve been through body shaming, you can always speak up if you are confident. Sometimes, even though it is not your responsibility, you can definitely educate people about it and also about your experience. It is totally fine to not reply back and leave the situation if you are being body shamed. It is better to get away from a toxic place rather than staying there and making yourself feel negative.
What to do if body-shaming is affecting you?
Sometimes, when you have heard a lot, it does tend to affect you so much that you break down. You would start feeling bad about yourself, feel like you’re not worth living in this society, angry, and you might also take a drastic step. But what would this do? The attacker won’t care, they’ll continue what they’ve been doing, not just that, but they’ll start doing it more. It will start affecting them when you return back with a much more positive and happy vibe. It will kill them inside which is the best thing to do. They should know that what they said did not affect you at all (even though it did). However, if body-shaming is really getting out of hands for you, always find someone you trust and talk to them. That will really help you feel better and their guidance may help you tackle your situation. Start accepting yourself the way you look, the day you do that, NO ONE can ever let your self-esteem down.