Redefining Beauty: Empowering Ourselves Against Body Shaming

“Don’t waste so much time worrying about your skin or your weight. Develop what you do, what you put your hands on in the world.” Meryl Streep

The act of making negative comments about someone's body is known as body shaming. It may concern your own body or the body of another person. There is no distinction between "you're too thin" and "you're too fat" in terms of body shaming. I witnessed that if someone weighed less than 45. They have heard remarks like "watch out you may fly away with the breeze," "doesn't your family give you enough food,"?  "don't you eat anything,"? and other similar ones that may sound hilarious but aren't.                                

Being someone who has weighed more than 55 kg, I have gotten comments like “you’re so fat, your face look is not appropriate”, “this dress does not suit you”, “you would look better, if you lose weight”, “you have to control your food intake”, “how much do you eat”?, “you don’t have a curvy body”. 

Many people in today's society believe that thin bodies are naturally healthier and superior than larger ones. I certainly don't need any dietary guidance, nor do I need to be urged to eat less. I do, however, require everyone to mind their own business. I don’t understand why people believe that it’s okay and necessary to say these kinds of disgusting things. Unfortunately, that's the case for everyone. But they ignore the main aspect that body shaming has a major impact on the mental health of individuals. After these comments, people start looking at themselves through others eyes or even they start comparing themselves with others. You can have negative self-perceptions due to your weight or physical appearance. Even worse, you can start saying things to yourself like, "I feel so fat today," or "I need to stop stuffing my face with food." Body shaming affects mental and physical health, both for the person who is body shaming and the one who is being body shamed. 

One of the most common reasons people are body shamed is because of their weight. Someone might be body shamed for being "too big" or "too thin." Saying anything negative about a person being "fat" is body shaming. This is also known as "fat-shaming." Fat-shaming comments are ones like "They'd be pretty if they lose weight," or "I bet they had to buy an extra plane ticket to fit." Men are often body-shamed when people refer to them as having a "dad bod."

People in thinner bodies can also be shamed for their low weight. Often called skinny-shaming, it may sound like, "They look like they never eat" or "They look like they have some kind of eating disorder."

Effects of Body Shaming

Body shaming has many negative consequences on mental health. 

Here are some important ones:

Someone with poor self-esteem often feels inadequate and worthless. They may feel they don’t deserve happiness or success, which can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety.

People who are struggling with negative body image may start to compare themselves to others more regularly, and feel unattractive.

Poor self-esteem and negative body image often associated with body shaming is body dysmorphia, a mental health condition characterized by an obsessive preoccupation with one’s physical appearance, which often centers around perceived “flaws,” whether or not they truly exist.

People who face continuous body shaming feel depressed, avoid gatherings, criticize their body, and judge their body, feeling unhappy and unsatisfied with themselves.

People who have been body shamed may feel anxious in social situations, as they have learned to fear judgment from others.

There is higher chances of suicide and self-harm in people who faced body shaming and received bad comments on their body.

Eating disorders have a significant effect on physical health and can result in nutrient deficiencies, fatigue, hormone disruption, and other health concerns.

How to overcome body shaming:

1.      Accept your body as it is 

2.      Reframe your negative self-talk

3.      Use your strengths

4.      Appreciate your body

5.      Self-care

6.      Look beyond your body

7.      Challenge what you hear what you see

8.      Believe on yourself

9.      Cultivate self-love

10.  Surround yourself with positive people

In the last few years, I have also encountered body shaming, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I had to speak out for myself. Accepting who you are is the first thing you need to do. I believe it's time that we let body-shamers get away with saying hurtful things to us that undermine our self-worth and cause us to doubt our own confidence, whether they do so intentionally or not. Therefore, the next time someone makes fun of you for "being too skinny" or "being too fat," call them out in front of the whole group and reward yourself with your favorite thing simply for standing up for yourself.