Body shaming. I had never heard of it until six months ago. But nowadays, this term seems to fly around your ears every week, especially on social media and blogs. Body shaming is 'finding something about someone's physique'. I recently read a number of articles about it and saw a video of a blogger who regularly dealt with it. And then I thought:body shaming, don't we all do that sometimes?
Let me first say that it doesn't matter to me whether you are degree skinny or fat. Just to keep it in body-shaming terms 😉 . As long as you're happy with the way you look, so am I! In fact, even if you wouldn't be happy with it, I still think you are a beautiful person, that may be who she is and that I hope she will see that herself.
And yet I sometimes do body shaming. I sometimes see fuller women of whom I think:'Those leggings don't look good on you'. Or I see very slim women where I think:'If I was that thin I might have put on something else'. Those thoughts of mine, that's also body shaming.
The way I 'body shame', I see myself as a fairly harmless form that we are all guilty of from time to time. The fuss about body shaming is not about people's thoughts. Body shaming is about not being able to keep your opinion to yourself. Leave comments on blog posts containing comments about the physique of the blogger in question, for example.
Saying you find a crop top 'disgusting' on fuller women. Comments like "If I were that fat I would really kill myself," and "As a blogger you are an example for young girls, so if I were you I would eat a little healthier and lose weight". You can see it all in Youtube videos. And certainly not only with fuller bloggers, but also with bloggers with a completely normal posture.
I then wonder:what kind of people comment on videos and blog posts like this? Why do you think it is necessary – nice and anonymous – to help these kinds of reactions into the world from behind your computer? Are you jealous of the blogger in question? Because she is successful, and you are not? Is that why you attack her on what she can do little about herself? So that you give her a feeling of powerlessness? And do you realize that there are also others who read your comments, and perhaps become very insecure about it? It's like bullying, how do you deal with it?
I personally think that many of these kinds of comments are posted by teenagers who are insecure. But sometimes adults can enjoy it too! Shall we just agree to stop with this kind of nonsense and just keep the 'body shaming' to yourself? This will undoubtedly make the world a bit more beautiful.
