Why Body Shaming is more than Fat Shaming
Since the beginning of time society has set a standard of acceptance for the bodies of men and women. Whether it be muscular and tall, skinny with a thigh gap or curvy in all the right places, everyone has been pressured to look a certain way. Even men are pressured to stop being “boney” and to have perfect shoulder and back muscles. Small women are too skinny because they don’t have enough curves and their butt is too small and they need to wear a push up bra. Curvier women are TOO curvy and don’t have the perfect waist to butt ratio. Small girls with D cups are bullied for being “unproportional”. No one can win! Young women especially are put under extreme pressure to be “thick” but not “fat” or to show some skin but not be “slutty”. Rarely do we find people who meet the expectations of society and then they are worshiped for being “perfect” without giving any attention to their character. Being born attractive is not an accomplishment. In fact, some people may argue that it’s a curse. Constantly being patronized for having a pretty face takes attention from what’s truly important and people are respected not because of their hard work or personality but because they’re pretty. We have begun to value the superficial rather than real talent and character.
If we have all experienced body shaming in one way or another, why do we continue to body shame others? I admit, even I feel pressured to meet the social standards and watch my weight because I may not fit in to my favorite pair of jeans anymore. Fatgirlphd.com is a website that advocates a healthy lifestyle and the sheds light to some of the damage we have caused in our youth. According to this website, one in four girls under seven years old have tried to diet or lose weight. One third of boys 8-12 are dieting to lose weight. And this is really where it hits me. Children are no longer allowed to enjoy childhood without feeling pressured to look a certain way. Childhood is all about taking advantage of the beauty of being innocent and living without responsibilities. I truly believe that childhood is very important in the development of people and insecurities developed during childhood will continue to follow people into adulthood if not addressed. It’s scary to think that future generations are going to grow up afraid of eating desert. Look at our generation. No one ever told us it was okay to be whoever we want to be and to love ourselves until recently and we are so screwed up!
I can sit behind this computer screen and complain about society all day long (after all society has it’s fair share of issues), but at the end of the day I am society. You are society. We are society. We are what forms a community and the responsibility to change the perspective of future generations and each other falls on us. We are all inevitably different, in our characters, body shape, skin color, etcetera. There’s no avoiding it. So rather than changing each other lets celebrate our differences, let’s admire each other without being envious. After all, different is the real beautiful.
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3 Responses to “Why Body Shaming is more than Fat Shaming”
This is such a powerful message and so important! We put all the pressure on being perfect, and I liked how you said that even those who can achieve this don’t really want it. We need to lear to not only accept each other, but ourselves because everyone is beautiful!
I loved reading this post! Body-shaming is a passion of mine because I have several overweight friends who love their bodies and are confident with them but they always feel the need to put down my skinnier friends. They claim that they’re not body shaming them because they’re not fat but they don’t know that my friend has been trying to gain weight for years and can’t. Also, famous songs such as “All About That Bass” put down women who aren’t curvy and says that they won’t be able to get men because they’re skinny. I completely agree with everything you wrote in this article and I believe that society needs to stop worrying about everybody’s body type and focus on themselves and making sure they are happy and healthy.
After reading the article about the male gaze in class and hearing about all the appearance standards we have for people, this blog is really important. I don’t know if you heard about the viral video, “Dear Fat People,” but it brought up a ton of issues about body shaming and body image. Go watch it for yourself. Somehow, a lot of people confuse having standards for a healthy lifestyle with judgement on overweight people and this is unacceptable. Your body is the only body that you’re allowed to judge and you should do so with love and kindness, not shame. Losing weight is a healthy choice but no one should feel pressured to do it for the wrong reasons. Everyone is beautiful and everyone should have control over how they feel they want their bodies to look; it’s no one else’s business.