Have you ever been body shamed?

Have you ever felt inferior because your body didn’t match set standards?
Or do you body shame people?
This us for you all.
Let’s talk. shall we?

We now live in a world where we’re starved of sincere nice compliments, but we’re bombarded with derogatory comments from family, friends etc.
And the funny thing is as time goes on we’ve even learned to normalize negative comments since we’re used to hearing them and we just smile and let go. So sad😞

Of all the negative comments we get from close ones, BODY SHAMING seems to be one of the most normalized and this is because even the media and magazines give us a particular model of how individuals(especially ladies) should look.

What is body shaming?

Bodyshaming is the practice of making critical, potentially humiliating comments about a person’s body, size or weight.
An example is telling a child that they’re too skinny, they’re too fat etc.

Sadly, body shaming is done by close persons such as spouse, parents, siblings, friends, schoolmate etc

Body shaming happens in both men and women but women are more vulnerable.

Manifestations of body shaming
-criticizing your own look by comparison with a perceived standard
– criticizing another’s appearance in front of them

Social media and magazines
It should be noted that many magazines social media platforms and advertisements contribute to body shaming in ways that have started to normalize these damaging behaviours.
“For decades, the media has pushed unrealistic images of how the female body should look with an established notion that a thin”conventionally pretty” woman is what all women should strive towards anything outside that realm is not worthy” meanwhile, overweight characters are often those we find in jokes and tv sitcoms.
With this challenging pressure from the media, young individuals are pressured to want to look a certain way.

Impacts of body shaming
Body shaming is a form of bullying which leads to “`Emotional trauma especially at young age, low self-esteem, anger, self harm, mental disorders, insecurities, negative eating habits etc“`

Overcoming body shaming

✅Since most of the body shaming comes from close people, we’re therefore saddled with the responsibility of being careful of the words we use to describe or refer our spouse, children,friends etc.
Let’s encourage our friends and family to be comfortable about their looks.
We all can’t look the same and this diversity is what makes us beautiful😌
✅Learn to practice self love and acceptance as this boosts your self esteem.
✅Be proud of yourself “Be proud of who You’re and not ashamed of how someone else sees you”.
✅Be careful of the media contents you believe and work with.
✅Try to know your BMI(body mass index) as this will give you an idea about the healthy state of your weight.
✅If you must work on your weight, do it because you’re comfortable about it and not because someone else wants you to look a particular way. Remember “you’re the only one that can make any decision about your body ”

Let’s love ourselves for who we’re totally (this includes our complexion, size, height etc)
You didn’t create yourself.
You’re special dear reader and there’s none like you😌

Written by Hashim Munira, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria