Body shaming. I don’t understand anything about it. It is so prevalent in society and it is disgusting.

Did you ever stop and think how often we are told to change our appearance? The media has ingrained an “ideal image” into our minds. Diet and workout tips are found everywhere because of this. Somehow being slim automatically equates to attractiveness and success.

The diet industry feeds on people’s insecurities about their image and keeps producing more and more B.S. products to help us lose weight or tone up. It seems almost impossible to keep up with the new fad diet, and sometimes it feels like no matter how we look, there is always something to improve on.

Being heavier is often portrayed quite negatively. Although plus-size models have made a splash in the industry, curvier women are still criticized for their weight quite often. WHY? Appearance is a very personal thing, and nobody should be ashamed of what they look like or who they are. If somebody else’s weight isn’t personally affecting you, you shouldn’t care.

Body shaming can come in different forms. One way is through comparison of yourself to another person. Thoughts like, “I’m so ugly compared to this person,” or, “She’s skinnier than me so she must be better,” are so self-deprecating. I used to struggle with these thoughts myself, and they can manifest into extreme self-esteem issues. It’s not fair to compare yourself to some unrealistic ideal image in a magazine. From personal experience, I can say even if you lose a certain amount of weight, it won’t make you happier necessarily.

Another form of body shaming is criticizing another person’s appearance to their face or through a screen. Bullying around body types is very real, and it somehow needs to be dealt with. What is the point of putting someone down for his or her weight? And why are we so influenced by what we see in the media?

I think if this “ideal body image” wasn't constantly projected, we wouldn’t have as much of an issue with this. Many body positive activists get thousands of hate comments on their social media pages telling them to hide in a hole until they lose 50 pounds. What have they personally done to you to deserve such scorn?

Body shaming is seen more through women, but there is so much negative hate surrounding women anyway that we don’t need anymore. There is so much pressure to always be perfect and let’s be honest, so many women have silent competitions against each other.

Who cares if you’re 15 pounds lighter? That doesn’t make you any more worthy or desirable than me. We need to bring each other up more as a gender and fight for equality rather than constantly tear one another down.

Body shaming makes no sense to me. There’s literally no point in it. Ever since I’ve stopped criticizing myself for not looking like a photo-shopped model, I’ve been so much happier and have achieved more goals. Don’t let image hold you back because you’re perfect just how you are.