It’s rather surprising how people will dare not use the words “fat” or “overweight” but will casually throw around “Bony” and “Scrawny”.
We are all familiar with the very controversial term and topic of discussion ‘Body Shaming’. There are three known branches of body shaming, -Fat shaming, -Skinny shaming and -Thin privilege. Unfortunately, in recent times, only fat shaming is considered body shaming, the rest is expected to be taken as a “sport”.
While fat shaming is widely spoken about and even called out, skinny shaming is often left aside as something that doesn’t exist. It is treated as a joke and often taken too lightly.
In a time like this where being “Fat” is not accepted by society, being thin might seem like a privilege but it is actually not. Just like, healthy people are indirectly taunted about their weight and body type, thin people are too, in fact the taunts regulated at thin people aren’t even indirect. They are pretty direct and upfront and are expected to be taken in a positive manner no matter what.
It is considered very inappropriate and rude to walk up to a fat person and say the words, “Why are you so fat? Why don’t you eat less?” But very few people understand that it is equally inappropriate to say, “Why are you so thin? Why don’t you eat more?” to a thin person.
You do not know what one is going through. The kind of problems or complications that a person might be going through to be the weight or size that they are. And even if there is nothing behind their weight, if they are happy with the way they look, it should not matter to any third person and it should not be considered a free ticket to pass comments no matter what the person’s weight or body type is.
While having a conversation about the same topic a friend of mine said “I’ve always been a very thin girl. Since the time I can remember, I was thin and tall. I, of course had people constantly telling me what to eat, how much of it and how I looked malnourished, but it never really affected me, till I turned 20. I hit my twenties and I was still a tall lean girl. I loved my body the way it was. I felt beautiful and didn’t give much ear to anything negative. But when all the talking and annoyance in college started, I started feeling insecure. That got me down but after a little talk with my parents and the college counsellor, I started feeling like myself again”
Body image issues can be the underlying cause for a lot of problems related to self-esteem and confidence. Constantly being brought down because of the way one is built can take a very large toll on a person’s mind.
Skinny shaming is a stigma that’s been around for many years now and is ignored or not taken as seriously as body shaming. Something like this needs to be spoken about more often, it needs to be addressed in the same ugly but loud form that fat shaming is. Children, adults, students or anybody for that matter, should not be taught or expected to take skinny shaming as a sport, they should be taught to call it out and make sure people realize that fat or thin, passing comments is equally hurtful and should not be popularized.
Aishwarya Says:
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