According to the Oxford English Dictionary: “Body shaming is the act or practice of humiliating a person

based on their body type by making critical and/or mocking statements about their body shape and
size.”. Image and appearance are a particularly sensitive subject matter to everyone, young and old. This
is due to the fact that the way we present ourselves has a direct connection to who we are. Body
shaming manifests in many ways, including: criticizing your own appearance, criticizing someone else's
appearance in front of them or criticizing someone else's appearance behind their back.

Fat-shaming, skinny shaming, and body hair shaming are the types of body shaming that caught my
attention made by the society. I’m certain that we all know these types of shaming because at some
point of our lives, we either experienced it or witnessed it, or maybe both. People are so obsessed with
the so-called perfect body image to the point that they bully each other in order to appear as the better
one. We are constantly being told by strangers, family, and friends alike about what our bodies should
be like. They even compare our bodies and easily makes comments about them as if it’s natural. But are
they- are we aware that body shaming affects not only physical, but also mental health? Because if we
are, we wouldn’t body shame anyone including ourselves. Some of the issues that may develop due to
body shaming include: eating disorders Anorexia: The act of refusing to eat Bulimia: The act of binging
and purging, Social anxiety, and Depression which can lead to suicide.

When I was in grade school, I was skinny shamed. They told me I was a “walking skeleton”. When I
reached High school, they fat-shamed me. They told me I can be considered as fat as a pig. I lost
confidence and had social anxiety that I couldn’t even bear to be in public because I felt like every
people are staring at me; judging me. In addition to the pain, the people who body shamed me were the
people who are supposed to be the closet to me. You wanna call it as an honest comment? No! look
what happened to me. I’m still adjusting myself because until now, their words are stuck in the back of
my head. It was then that I come to realize how the society works; they never stop judging you. You
can’t change the way they are, but you can change the way on how you handle them. Remember that
you are not alone and that you are in control of how you respond. My Tia told “Confidence is the best
accessory a woman could ever wear.” So, chin up and stand for yourself.

At the end of the day, it’s your body and no one should have the power to make you feel bad about it.
Remember a quote written by Simone Scully that says “Every human body is beautiful. Bodies come in
all different shapes and sizes. That’s part of what makes each of us unique.” Let’s stop the shaming. We
need to spread love and positivity because the world-our world, needs more of it.