Body shaming is something we have all seen and experienced throughout our lives. It happens to almost everyone. Whether you are skinny, overweight, curvy, or in between, you have probably been criticized for how you look at some point in your life. It is more than likely that you have seen it happen to several other people as well, and that's shameful. Why is it that so many people, who also aren't perfect, feel the need to judge others so relentlessly over something so trivial?
One thing i notice about body shaming is that it's not only directed towards people who are overweight. Lately, I have seen a constant battle between women of all sizes who lash at each other simply for their body types. Some smaller women make remarks about how unhealthy or unattractive or unlovable heavier-set women are, and I see larger women ranting about skinnier women and saying the exact same hurtful things. Neither of them are correct. All bodies are different, and all of them can be beautiful and lovable. It's unnecessary and pointless for people to throw hate at each other, and there is so much more to a person than their size or shape. As J.K. Rowling has said,
"Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? Not to me.”
This quote can be applied to anyone who has been shamed for their body. I used this quote specifically because while I do see skinny shaming and it's just as awful as fat shaming, the latter is much more prevalent in our society. We see thinner bodies in the media, on television, in magazines, and everywhere else, while we're lucky to even see a person larger than a size six in a catalog for plus-sized clothing. Every time an actual plus-sized model shows up in an advertisement or magazine, like Tess Holliday, they're immediately criticized for it, told they should be losing weight, they're unhealthy, and that they're unattractive. We constantly see weight loss products advertised and during the summer we're told to lose weight so we can have a "beach body". Honestly, I agree with J.K. Rowling. Who cares what you look like on the outside if you're rotten on the inside? If you're a person with a lovable personality, intelligence, creativity, a sense of humor, or you have other great personality traits, who cares what you look like? Looks don't last forever, and if you have an actual personality, people will realize that when you don't have your looks anymore. As for some people who only care about looks and have a terrible personality, they'll be known for that when they lose their looks, too. People can lose or gain weight most of the time, but you can't change who you are on demand, and the looks don't matter when you're a miserable person who bashes others and has no personality.
Some people say that we shouldn't be promoting obesity because it's unhealthy and therefore we should shame larger people into losing weight. It's obvious that being morbidly obese comes with health issues and that it shouldn't be promoted, but neither should anorexia and eating disorders just because we're told we need to be skinny no matter what. There's nothing wrong with loving yourself. Feeling confident is extremely helpful when you want to achieve a goal, whether it's losing weight or anything else. Those people who are obese won't lose weight if they hate themselves. They think it's not worth it to try to improve their life or lose weight because they feel like they can't do it and that there's no point, because they don't feel that they're worth it. They see themselves in the mirror every day and shaming them for how they look only makes their self-hatred worse, because they're already aware that they're obese and the person shaming them is only rubbing it in their face even more. If a larger person loves themselves, they're more likely to actually work hard and change themselves if they feel that they need to. Hate does no favors for anyone.
On the other hand, even though thinness is promoted so often, I see skinny people told that they need to eat a burger, they need to eat more, or that they're anorexic. A lot of them are just naturally thin and shouldn't be told that's wrong either.
Nobody should be taught to hate themselves. Instead, we should be spreading body positivity rather than hate and insults towards one another. It doesn't matter what size you are or how you look as long as you're happy with yourself and healthy. We as a society need to reevaluate our priorities and realize that nothing is going to be accomplished by shaming one another, because who you are as a person is what will outlive your looks. Everyone gets old, gains or loses weight, gets wrinkles and stretch marks, and ends up not being conventionally attractive at some point. Focus on yourself as a person and what your goals are. Learn to spread self-love, not hate.
