HANOI UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PUROSES DEPARTMENT

BODY SHAMING:
CAUSE, REALITY, EFFECTS AND OVERCOME

Student: Nguyen Thi Thuy

Nguyen Thu Ngoc
Lecturer: Tran Thuy Hang
Class: 5C22-ACN
Course: EAP Writing
Date: March 17, 2023

i
 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to popularize body shame again and respond with
some feasible treatments. The using method is descriptive quantitative which
collecting data from who used be body shaming. The survey was conducted on
many volunteers especially teenagers and showed that body shaming used their
faces against social anxiety and eating disorders. And mostly agreed that body
shaming has left trauma after years. Even on nowadays the percentage of body
shame has minor decline. It has damaged them and involved their whole life. The
solutions are self-confidence and more exercises. It can be concluded that
regarding body shaming is needed, and government and media need to care more
about this issue.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................................II

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1

2. DISCUSSION.............................................................................................................................1

2.1. Cause of body shaming...........................................................................................................1

2.1.1. ocial anxiety and eating disorders.................................................................................1
2.1.2. Refuse to accept the difference......................................................................................2

2.2. The reality of body shaming..................................................................................................2

2.3. Effect of body shaming...........................................................................................................3

2.3.1. The development of an eating disorder.........................................................................3
2.3.2. Affect Self-Harm Behavior.............................................................................................3
2.3.3. Stress and depression......................................................................................................3

2.4. Overcome body shame...........................................................................................................4

2.4.1. Be confident with what you have...................................................................................4
2.4.2. Exercise for health, eat a healthy diet, and change yourself.......................................4
2.4.3. Contact a person you can trust......................................................................................5

3. CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................5

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................6

iii
1. Introduction

In today's society, with the strong development of the internet, people gradually encounter many
problems, one of which is body shaming. "Body shaming" is to speak of someone's physique.
Your own body or someone else's body is involved. Comments can be directed at a person's size,
age, appearance, weight, or perceived beauty (Resnick, 2022). According to "Words Have
Power: Can They Lead To an Eating Disorder?" One of the most popular social media platforms
is Instagram, which has over 200 million daily users. There are 161 million daily Snap Chat
users. Over 65.8% of US businesses use Twitter for marketing. Making rude and offensive
comments online requires a lot of "keyboard courage" (2019). The purpose of body shaming
research is to inform about its causes, negative effects, and ways to deal with it.

1. Discussion

1.1. Cause of body shaming

Diversity identities of Body Shaming symptoms are devastating consequences of a large of

causes but not limited to. It was true that individuals who have borderline personality disorder or
sore may face more domination.

2.1.1. ocial anxiety and eating disorders

Social Anxiety may be one of notable reasons generating to this mental problems. According to
Wecapable, people develop this when someone is ridiculed for their shape and they bond to
avoid meeting. This may even lead to more stress and isolation. It is also true that the main cause
of body-shamed by prolonged and life-threatening eating disorders. As a survey by an eating
disorder charity in the UK, cleared that about 65% people confirmed that badly treat and body
shaming had led their eating rise (2023). As a result, victims lose in a repeated cycle: be bullied
for their weight, cannot stress buster and eat more, heavier weight, and be more body-shamed.
Obviously, it is hard for victims those were faced with body Shaming and was susceptible to
create separate personalities. Sincerely, that horrible feeling belongs to unforgettable memories.

1
2.1.2. Refuse to accept the difference

We have yet to learn to accept human differences, which is another major contributing factor to
body shaming. We feel compelled to draw attention to someone who stands out from the crowd
when we see them. Furthermore, we often point out differences in an insulting way because we
do not take them seriously. This is why people are ridiculed for being both skinny and
overweight. Both the very tall and the short were humiliated. For this reason alone, bullying
often targets people with disabilities. Most individuals lack the ability to recognize and accept
differences (Wecapable, 2023).

1.2. The reality of body shaming

In reality, body shaming operates in an incredibly complex relationship. More details and some
follow-up proofs are given. According to a recent study, 30% of boys and 45% of girls reported
feeling pressured by their friends to maintain a particular appearance. This is more than double
what researchers discovered in 2014 and is an increase from the 42 percent of girls and 25
percent of boys in 2020 (WHN, 2022). According to Good mental health for all, teenagers
expressed 37% unhappiness and 31% humiliation about their body images. In addition, 34% and
35% of individuals, respectively, admitted to experiencing anxiety or depression because of their
body image. One in eight (13%) adults reported having suicidal ideas or sentiments because of
body image issues. Moreover, 21% of adults reported that advertisements use of imagery had
made them self-conscious about their appearance. Besides, just 40% of teenagers and just over
one in five adults (22%) reported that images on social media made them worry about their
bodies. In the past year, 20% of adults reported feeling ashamed, 34% reported feeling depressed
or gloomy, and 19% reported feeling disgusted by their appearance.

With the development of the internet, social networking sites, body shaming has become popular
with many people, especially celebrities. As stated by Najib (2023) Selena Gomez, who has had
a troubled connection with social media for a long time, attended the 2023 Golden Globes on
Tuesday. Gomez confessed in 2019 that she no longer uses the app because it made her feel
"depressed" when people left harsh comments on her postings.

2
1.3. Effect of body shaming

In life, not everyone is perfect. When you do not meet the standards that other people find
beautiful, they will use many negative, unfriendly words. Body shaming can have many
devastating consequences affecting human health and psychology. This manifests itself in the
form of several effects:

2.3.1. The development of an eating disorder

When a person is self-deprecating about their body, they will immediately think of skipping
meals and fasting to have a perfect body, but that has a negative effect on the body. As stated by
Antonatos (2023), the development of an eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia is a result of
body shaming. According to E. Schluger (2023), you can start a diet to alter the size or shape of
your body. However, these diets might result in dangerous habits, including fasting, skipping
meals, post-meal vomiting, excessive activity, or using medications. The body will eventually
stop absorbing the nutrition it needs. Comments that ridicule the body, such as "Did you lose
weight? You look so much better," activated and promoted the diet to maintain weight loss.

2.3.2. Affect Self-Harm Behavior

When a person suffers from excessive body shaming, they often have bad thoughts about
themselves that lead to many actions that can harm themselves. According to Wecapable (2023),
negative effects can affect self-harm behavior. When people feel ashamed of their bodies, they
begin to judge themselves. Not only does it cause a person to lose self-esteem, but it can also
lead to self-harm behaviors, including suicidal thoughts. Besides, Antonatos (2023) also writes
Excessive worry about body image manifests in unhealthy behaviors, including extreme dieting,
over-exercising, repetitive plastic surgery, etc., to change or "improve" the appearance.

2.3.3. Stress and depression

One of the more serious consequences of body shaming is escalating stress and depression. Body
shame can cause or worsen preexisting symptoms of anxiety and depression. When people
experience body shaming in public or on social media, they often try to stay away from public
places where there are many people, which leaves them feeling isolated and lonely. Hearing
negative comments about your appearance can make you feel embarrassed, increase your fear,
and lower your self-esteem. Therefore, when you hear negative words, you start talking

3
negatively to yourself. You might say to yourself, "I'm a nasty person," or "I'm completely
useless." This can lead to extreme loneliness, depression, anxiety, and a negative self-image.
(E.Schluger, 2023).

1.4. Overcome body shame

Urge is needed to cope with coarse body image symptoms. There are some current tackles

2.4.1. Be confident with what you have.

Use hypnosis to like your reflection. By letting go of toxic or negative feelings about yourself
and releasing shame or embarrassment toward your body when you look in the mirror and
consider "what you truly mean to yourself," hypnosis can help you increase your confidence,
improve your understanding of your self-image, and increase your levels of self-love, self-
respect, and self-appreciation. (Datar, 2019). Beside, Choose one or more aspects of your
physique that you like. It would be great if we resisted some of the ads we see about how to
achieve whiter teeth and millimeter longer eyelashes by appreciating what we already have.
Maybe, despite your problems with body image, you still love the new hairstyle you have. You
may have observed that eating a balanced diet makes you feel stronger. Find an element of
yourself, whether it is physical or not (Vargas).

2.4.2. Exercise for health, eat a healthy diet, and change yourself.

To overcome body shaming, you need to pay attention to your health and diet. As written by
Antonatos (2023), make maintaining your general health a priority by giving yourself time for
things like eating well-balanced meals, getting enough sleep, maintaining your personal
cleanliness, practicing mindfulness, keeping a diary, and socializing with friends. Although it
requires hard work and practice, you will find it. Establish a healthy connection with food.
According to Dubé (2023), when women gain weight or stop spending money on plastic surgery
and makeup, it is assumed that they are "indulging themselves," while the fad diet ensures that
you can lose more weight than the experts suggest. Health experts recommend it as healthy.
Move away from "guilty pleasure" or limiting mentalities and towards consuming nutritious
meals that also bring joy. You deserve to enjoy food and give your body the nutrients it needs to
keep you going if you really want.

4
2.4.3. Contact a person you can trust.

In addition to confidence in your appearance, you should also need people's mental support. As
written by E. Schluger(2023), there is no need for you to tackle the body shaming on your own,
even if you feel clumsy about confiding in someone about it. Let people know what you are
going through and ask them for advice and support. It is important to find someone you can
confide in and feel at ease with. Having a secure place to vent your feelings might help you deal
with the anguish and embarrassment of being body shamed.

2. Conclusion
The above analysis has shown that body shaming takes account of considerable percent in
human’s health issues chart. It is in charge of antisocial, feeling disorder and like a slip that
should not appear in life. In addition, body shaming is inevitable and neither relies on any stage
of age nor religious culture. After a long time analyzing, new approaches have recorded finally
do a part of successful output to cut off this problem. Undoubtedly, this will need time, but it is
worth pursuing by greatest efforts.

5
 REFERENCES

Body image report - Executive Summary. (2019). Retrieved from Mental Health Foundation:
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/articles/body-image-report-
executive-summary
Words Have Power: Can They Lead To An Eating Disorder? (2019, March 21). Retrieved from
Magnolia Creek: https://www.magnoliacreek.com/resources/blog/what-is-body-shaming/
Body Shaming. (2022, July 26). Retrieved from WorldHealth.net:
https://www.worldhealth.net/news/body-shaming/
Body Shaming: Meaning, Causes, Consequences And Examples. (2023, March 16). Retrieved
from WeCapable: https://wecapable.com/body-shaming-meaning-causes-consequences-
examples/
Antonatos. (2023, March 13). Body Shaming: Definition, Why We Do It, & How to Overcome.
Retrieved from choosingtherapy: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/body-shaming/
Datar. (2019, November 6). How social media is increasing a person’s exposure to body
shaming and body image. Retrieved from The Times Of India:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-maven-style/how-social-media-is-
increasing-a-persons-exposure-to-body-shaming-and-body-image/
Dubé. (2023, January 4). How to Overcome Body Shaming. Retrieved from Calmerry Blog:
https://us.calmerry.com/blog/self-esteem/how-to-overcome-body-shaming/
Najib. (2023, January 15). Selena Gomez Seemingly Responds to Body-Shaming Comments After
2023 Golden Globes Appearance. Retrieved from yahoo!sports:
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/selena-gomez-seemingly-responds-body-
200932732.html?src=rss
Resnick. (2022, January 28). What Is Body Shaming? Retrieved from verywellmind:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-body-shaming-5202216
Schluger, E. (2023, February 24). Body Shaming. Retrieved from HelpGuide.org:
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/body-shaming.htm#:~:text=Body%20shaming
%20involves%20humiliating%20someone,made%20to%20others%20or%20yourself

6
Vargas. (n.d.). Body Shaming: What Is It & Why Do We Do It? Retrieved from
waldeneatingdisorders: https://www.waldeneatingdisorders.com/blog/body-shaming-
what-is-it-why-do-we-do-it/#:~:text=1