The Problem Of Body Shaming Essay Example

The idea of body-shaming is embedded in everyday society, in which people, mainly women, are victims. In simple terms, body shaming is the mocking of one’s physical appearance, though the way people shame others has changed, many things remain the same. The scope of this act is fairly large and it seems no one can be spared from this judgment. Many people are aware of body-shaming in the form of fat-shaming or height-shaming, but it can even be the shaming of thinness, shaming hairiness (or lack), hair color, body shape, muscularity, shambles of looks (facial traits), and even tattoos and piercings in their broadest sense. As mentioned before, women fall in the hands of body-shamers a handful of times in society, especially coming to body size. A woman who may be too skinny would be shamed for her smaller frame and told to eat a hamburger, on the contrary, a woman who is bigger, curvier, or “fatter”, would be told to eat a salad. That so happens to be the reality for a lot of women. 

In 2017, Demetria Obilor began a new job at WFAA-TV (Channel 8) as a new traffic reporter, sadly enough, she became a victim to a viral body-shaming Facebook post. The woman in the post, Jan Shedd, started off her argument by stating that Obilor is a size 18 woman, wearing a size 6 dress, and goes on to say that Obilor looks ridiculous and that she shall never watch Channel 8 news again. Though most of social media did not take a likeness to Jan’s Facebook post. Obilor took it upon herself to make a Twitter video speaking about her self-love and appreciation, addressing the haters, creating a generally positive and national response with thousands of people coming to Obilors defense. Demetria Obilor does not look like your ordinary news anchor, she’s a woman with curves, who sports her naturally curly hair and is unapologetically beautiful, unlike Jan, who seems to be battling bigger demons than “size 18” Demetria Obilor. Nevertheless, there is no one to blame other than society.

Women have bought into society’s view on the perfect women, a lot of times, women are constantly being told how they should dress, their ideal measurement, how they should wear their makeup, and how they should exist as a member of society. Sadly, we have learned that this ideology has caused more harm than good. Where younger girls are eating less in fear of gaining weight and not looking like their favorite model, not knowing that behavior is linked to eating disorders. The behavior of body-shaming is very threatening, though some women like Demetria Obilor can ignore and overcome such a setback, a lot of women can not, words like that cut deep for those women. On television, various amount of channels feature commercials, that have subliminal messages that emphasize attractiveness and perfection. Sadly, this is another way society plays a huge part in body-shaming. It seems almost impossible to meet this standard of beauty that has been placed upon us by the world.

All women face body-shaming to some extent, and every day it seems more and more impossible to escape the grasp that society has on our body image. The way media portrays women as impossible, perfect beings affect people, leading to damaging effects, such as eating disorders, depression, body dysmorphia, anxiety, and a copious amount of other issues. This is the reality of feeling like you do not reach the criteria of the most sought-after body. Perfection is impossible, but society makes women feel like perfection is possible, and when they thrive for the “perfect body” and can’t achieve it, they begin hating themselves for being normal; a human being.