Body Image and Fat Shaming

When we had a health checkup at MUIC as per freshman's college procedure, I was already anxious about weighing myself in front of other people. The guy who examined me sneered when he saw my weight; he and the lady who stood next to him glanced at one another and started to giggle. The lady muttered, “I can't believe it” and presumed that I couldn't understand or hear what they said. Why does everyone believe that they have the power to make comments on the body-size of others without giving it a second thought? Body shaming is a prevalent issue nowadays where being a certain body type is ideal. This issue is especially close to my heart as I have been body shamed and it is essential for people to know that their body does not define them. This essay will explore why people body-shame, two types of body shaming and effects of body shaming.

Body image can be described as the assessment of both positive and negative emotion for one’s own body parts and their characteristics by himself or herself (Nayir et al., 2016). This includes how a person sees themselves as compared to the societys’ expectations. The societal expectations especially on females to meet such superficial standards are so overwhelming that kids start to listen, incarnate and impersonate at a tender age. In addition, people who body shame others may not know that the media show the most unreal, modified and idealized representations of what is good-looking. Furthermore, the mainstream media are typically acknowledged to be a dominant provider for representations and information regarding the actual idealistic body to which women and girls are intended to aspire. To further clarify it, certain multinational entertainment companies influence the minds of the public by reconstructing view and expectation of regular people regarding the perfect look. For example, lingerie advertisements like Victoria Secret persuade you to believe that women who have tiny waist, big butt, wide hips and full lips look like angels. Sadly, several individuals often mindlessly emulate these models, causing their mindset regarding bodies to be distorted.

Thus, there are two types of body shaming; fat shaming and skinny shaming. Fat-shaming is the act of humiliating someone who is seen as fat by making a whole-self-evaluation of the person as “bad” or a “failure” based only on weight (Meulman, 2019). Moreover, some people may suffer from conditions that certain drugs like those of brain damage and tumors can cause binge eating and obesity as well (Burnett, 2016). Although these factors of obesity would be less frequent, I think it is wrong to presume that overweight people are in absolute control of their behaviour. Skinny shaming is the opposite of fat-shaming and it is a form scrutinizing people for their slim appearance. It is also as bad as fat shaming even though it is not that prominent. Body shaming is usually obvious and deliberate but most of the time people do not realize that it is offensive as well. For instance, my friend had a hard time gaining weight, so everyone used to mock her with obnoxious statements such as “you look like a stick, you don’t have flesh at all”. There is an evolving fashion either to ridicule the bodies of others or to continuously give advice on how to conceal our flaws, while in reality failing to understand the beauty inside. Aren’t imperfections supposed to be beautiful?

Consequently, body-shaming is undeniably a raging issue these days; it poses serious hazards to human health and welfare. There is proof that death and other mental-physical health problems can be caused by body shaming. One of the possible reasons why I think body shaming is never a tolerable issue due to the long- term low self-esteem result. Self-esteem has its correlation to intellectual excellence and accomplishment. For example, I was overweight in school and because of that I would not even participate in any school activities as I did not feel as talented as others. In fact, people with low self-esteem appear to be hostile towards individuals and groups within society which results in depression (Mcleod, 2012). Depression leads people to consume more carbs and feel less regulated about their diet which is an instinctive human reaction. If situations continue to escalate some may even decide to take a chance in cosmetic procedures. Furthermore, body shaming elicits suicidal thoughts but individuals who are obese are more likely to have such feeling because people view them as outcasts.

In conclusion, the subject of body shaming poses as a matter of concern and should be addressed as seriously as other relevant issues. People should not form their perception based on media or under societal pressure. Even if you do not like a person's appearance, you do not voice your opinion out as it can affect an individual severely. Humans come in every shape and sizes so if we embrace every shape and size the world will be a much better place.