Part 3- Body Shaming: The Bully and the Victim

It's all over the media, if you simply Google body shaming you get soooooooo many case studies. People are testifying against body shaming, and that is a big step towards a respectful world. All being said and done, the number of people feeling shamed is alarming. Knowing or unknowingly you have body shamed someone at some point in your life. Even I am guilty of this crime, of course, only until I became aware and enlightened that this is actually a social problem, and it is much greater than just simply passing a comment. 

you are currently reading Part 3 of my Body Shaming series. To read part 1 and part 2, simply click the hyperlinks.

While researching all the people who are shamed, I came across some cases that just left me speechless, and also I felt sorry for all the people who get into the act of shaming in the first place. Let me explain this with more description.

Who is shamed?

The answer is EVERYONE!

Actors, sports people, celebrities, children, teenagers, working class, middle aged people, old age folks…. absolutely everyone is shamed for whatever reasons suitable to the shamer.

Below are a few images that show that body shaming can happen to the most perfect people too! Take a look-

Who shames?

This is a bigger question. Mostly, because you would think that these people who shame others are mean, selfish and so proud of themselves, but it is almost exactly opposite of that. (There are like 5% people who are in fact like that) Studies show that people, who shame others, find it easier to shame/comment if they are having difficulty ‘fitting’ in their social circle. Also, some studies show that, jealousy leads to shaming, maybe you have shamed out of jealousy sometime in the past; we all have our moments!!

Sometimes shaming is the outcome of anger and frustration towards the victim, it wasn't intended, but the damage is done. People think it is easier to dismiss and disrespect, rather than, saying that they don't like what the other person is doing.

Often times, if someone is shamed in the past for whatever reasons, they are likely to get back to society by shaming others. (Giving back to the society, just not positively!).

In many cases, Narcissists, can shame others ruthlessly since they see themselves higher and better than everyone else. Narcissism is a personality disorder, which lures the victim to think that there is no one better than themselves.

Then finally there are people in general, people like you and me who think whatever we say to others is in the most harmless way, but believe me, you don’t know that. Different people take comments differently. Your comment can spoil someone’s day, even though you didn’t intend it to be that way. The solution to this would be, if you have nothing positive to say, then don’t say anything at all. Its just that simple!

I would like to wrap my short and sweet article by putting up a quote I came across, “Compliment others- Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses”.

Stay tuned for the last, but the most interesting part of this series- ‘Sassy comebacks for body shamers’!! that will be fun to learn.

If you would like to get into a dialogue with me about this article or any other, let’s get in touch…Follow me @quriouswriter on instagram,