Body Shaming – The Ugly Humor

          Humor does not always conjure smiles. When used in a wrong manner, humor sometimes can be very twisted and affect someone’s life to the core. One such type of humor is body shaming, which is a corrosive trend that has become one of the most damaging forces in today’s world.

                                                                                                                                          IMAGE COURTESY GOOGLE

These days, people do not seem to find anything wrong in making fun of someone else’s body, and sure enough, it is the ‘fat’ guy who is the preferred target compared to the thin. Shockingly enough, some people think/believe that making a person feel ashamed of their bodies is a potent way of motivating them to transform themselves, and that they will work even harder to achieve this miracle. Even celebrities get targeted, for example, Ariana Grande received a comment saying “Curves are sexy sticks aren’t.” Because of comments like these, both men and women are seen to predominantly suffer from low self-esteem and insecurity.

Today’s generation does not see anything wrong in “expressing their opinions,” regardless of the fact that these very opinions can actually hurt someone. More than one-third of the young girls today are scared of becoming ‘fat,’ and therefore engage in crash dieting, or binge eating. It has also been seen that girls as young as 10 years old are worried about the way they look and their ‘size’! Those who clearly intend to hurt, will never stop targeting the body image with unsavory comments, but what we need to understand here is that nobody chooses the body they have, especially an unfit body.

If someone is unhealthy, tell them how to change that, show them how they can become fit, and encourage them to take that road, rather than just criticizing them, or even making fun of them. Discrimination, singling out, and shaming only causes stress and makes any person feel bad. If someone is already overweight, this stress can actually make them eat more and more, and consequently, gain even more weight.

If someone has gained weight, I’m sure they have noticed their clothes fitting poorly. If someone has bad acne, I’m sure they have a mirror. There’s no need to further make someone feel bad about these things.And similarly if you don’t like their dress, If they’re at home and not yet gone out, sure tell them it doesn’t suit them. But if they’re at a function and can’t change their dress, all you’re accomplishing is making them feel bad.