"My weight? It is what it is. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow. It's about being content. And sometimes other priorities win." — Melissa McCarthy
Body shaming is a process of making comments on one body and making them uncomfortable in their own body, depowering them and lowering their confidence. It goes for both petite and slim people. In this article, we will see how to overcome the comments made by people and boost confidence. Some quotes for people who get body shamed are-
“ We all deserve to be represented, to feel beautiful and be accepted for the bodies we have, not the bodies people tell us to have.”- Anonymous
“Speak to your body in a loving way. It’s the only one you’ve got, it’s your home, and it deserves your respect.” —Iskra Lawrence
Types of body shaming
Fat-Shaming
It is an act of commenting on people's weight and making them conscious of it. Even though the person may have a petite body, the person is forced to believe that he/she is fat resulting in having a bad impact on him/her.
Skinny Shaming
It is a process of criticizing someone for being extra slim. Even though the person may have a slim fit body and be good for every work, the person is forced to accept the opinions of the people that they should eat more.
Body Hair Shaming
This is one of the most common body-shaming types. In this, a person is criticized for having body hair, especially girls. If girls have body hair then they are stated to be manly and not suitable for boys even though the girl herself is comfortable with it.
Food Shaming
It is a type of shaming in which a person is constantly nagged for the amount of food they eat, have on their plate, or their regular diet.
Social media body shaming
This type of shaming is constantly rising as the platform itself rises. In this through the cyber platforms, one is criticized for the same reasons as mentioned above and loses confidence.
Effects of body shaming
Body shaming does not result in good for a person rather it has only negative effects. Some of them are-
A person may think of suicide, so if you are in that phase remember your family loves you no matter what and think of the grief they will go through if you decide to do such a thing and how much they will blame themselves rather than move on.
A person may physically hurt oneself and no one can know what the person is going through.
He/she may constantly blame themselves for the wrongs happening around them thus resulting in depression and many people lose their lives to depression. If you find a person going through depression do not back out rather help them and ask how you can be of help to them, take care of them and give them their medications on time.
A person may eat less or more than his actual will as the shaming done by the people around him affects the person and may develop eating disorders.
Shaming could develop social anxiety in a person and one may lose his/her aura and lose confidence resulting in serious health issues.
A person's mental health is disturbed to a large extent resulting in serious health issues which may be wished by the person to happen eventually.
Thus if you are body shaming someone think of the consequences for the person as your words do not affect you, but they affect the person deeply and thus one should stop body-shaming immediately.
Ways to overcome body shaming
Self-love- It is the most important thing to prevent harm to yourself, if you love yourself enough then no one can change your perspective on your body and demotivate you.
Confidence- Having good confidence will boost you in giving comebacks to the people who shame other people. It will also create your aura and no one can dare to give you a negative comment.
Acceptance- Acceptance is a very important thing, be comfortable in your own body and constantly remind yourself that you live for yourself and not for other people and their opinions do not matter.
Take care of your social media and remove the negative people from your feed.
Surround yourself with people who bring out the good in you and motivate you in believing in yourself.
Therefore, body shaming should be eradicated from society as it has only negative effects on the person and results in serious consequences. The person can also be reported to the police for causing such mental and physical harm to the person.
“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving yourself and see what happens.” —Louise Hay
References
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
Beautiful You by Rosie Molinary
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