#Trendingontwitter: Fat-Shaming
Hey people! Today I want to talk about something important, fat-shaming. I know I should be talking about what’s trending on Twitter but please, hear me out first.
Fat shaming is discriminating or criticizing people based on the size of their body. In fact, it’s so embedded in the everyday lives that we don’t often recognize when we’re perpetuating fat-phobia.
About 50% of fat people are viewed as unattractive, ugly or weird by family, friends and strangers who are constantly telling them to watch their weight with claims of concern for their health. Truth is, a person’s health simply cannot be determined by appearance alone.
Fat shaming has been proven by evidence to make people feel worse instead of motivated. It lowers their self-esteem, causes anxiety and may even cause depression. In cases where fat-shaming fueled weight loss, it did so from a place of fear and still left psychological issues behind.
Sometimes it feels like you aren’t allowed to be fat and happy. You aren’t allowed to love yourself no matter what you looked like and that’s sad.
Very recently two girls trended on Twitter because of a picture. In this picture, One of the girls showed her bare backside and this girl was plus-sized. This picture was in line with other random trends on Twitter and might have been a bit much in terms of overall nudity but the other girl got highly irritated and called the poster names like classless and dirty and incomparable to her. She went further to post this picture on her Instagram and Snapchat stories, talk about such energy!
She, on the other hand, had her own scantily-clad pictures up on Twitter but felt that the other girl didn’t look good enough to put hers up. Plot twist, she was fat too before she got her body done. Getting your body done is great if you need that, but it’s not an excuse to make someone feel uncomfortable about their own body because you look like the idea of perfect.
Plus size ladies, It’s imperative that you find your voice and wield it as loudly as possible. If you think you’re being discriminated against because of your size, call it out. If you see your friends speaking negatively about someone’s body because it’s larger than theirs, call them out. A simple, “That wasn’t kind. You shouldn’t talk about other people’s bodies in that way” would suffice.
We need to understand that bodies come in all shapes and sizes and they all have equal value. Let’s build a world where people are supported in living happy, healthy lives, free of judgment and fat-shaming.
