BODY SHAMING.
Body shaming and fat shaming is the same as bullying, whether it be in person, or online. It is the act or practice of negatively judging someone, based on his/her physical appearance. Typically, people are body shamed when they seem to be or are overweight or underweight and don’t fit the society’s self-set standards, expecting an average individual to look lean and handsome/beautiful. Our culture loves the ideology of a perfect body, whether it be in print, movies, television, or online, seeing someone who doesn’t fit the mold isn’t considered acceptable to some.
We often come across critical judgements such as the following:
“You would be a knockout if you lost weight.”
“You need to eat and put some meat on your bones.”
“There is no way that is going to fit you.”
“Are you really going to eat all that?”
“You are SO fat!”
“Your body is disgusting.”
Body-shaming may manifest in many ways:
1) Feeling that one's appearance is inferior to others'.
2) Making fun of someone else's appearance in his/her presence.
3) Criticizing other people's physiques in their absence.
Owing to the detrimental effects of body shaming, it must stop at the earliest.
Dr Anshul Mahajan
Consultant psychiatrist