Body Shaming : A Rising Topic Within The Social And Political World

I am watching our society change how people view their bodies. When I was younger, I do not remember body image even being a topic that was regularly discussed. Not to say that people weren’t going through this previously, but it is that it just wasn’t something that was talked about every day. But now, as I get older, I’m starting to see these topics in the news more often and they are starting to affect people around me; like my family, friends, coworkers, etc...

Throughout history, body image has been determined by various factors, one of them being the media. In the article “How Social Media Is a Toxic Mirror,” written by Rachel Simmons, she shares the story of a woman who admits to being afraid of leaving her apartment without putting on makeup. “I don’t get to choose how I’m going to leave my apartment today,” one young woman told me, “If I could, my body would look different. But I cant choose which picture makes my arms look thinner” (Simmons). One word: Fear. The woman fears the opinion of others. She second guesses herself before she steps foot outside her apartment building. It displays the lack of confidence she has towards herself as an individual and the control the media has over her. The author goes on to discuss how teenagers look up to social media by obsessing over how many likes

Body shaming is the act of embarrassing someone by making rude comments about one’s body shape or size. Schools will not say they are purposely body shaming but teaching children to be modesty.

Garner, David. “The 1997 Body Image Survey Results.” Overall men and women are affected everyday by what social media has to say. It makes people unhappy with who they are and what they look like. Women and men are feeling ashamed about things that really aren't under their control.

No doubt, when people express how they feel on social media about other’s bodies, it can affect the people they have on their social media. Because they can be going through the same thing as the person they are describing. Alex Brunstad in “Body Shaming and Social Media”, explains how she feels about social media and that it actually affects her when someone talks about other people’s bodies. The author explains how she feels saying that “social media, originally a platform by which I hoped to give and receive support from likeminded individuals, quickly became a toxic environment for strengthening my relationship with my body”. People that feel insecure about their body expect that others would accept them on how they look and receive support on how they truly feel about themselves. Since they already know how they look, they do not need a remainder.

NEDA. (2016). Media, body image, and eating disorders. Retrieved March 20, 2017, from NEDA. Finding Hope website: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/media-body-image-and-eating-disorders

The body image movement aims to improve the relationship between women and their bodies in a more positive manner (Dove 2014). Currently, women are suffering from an increase in body self-consciousness as a result of medias role regarding beauty ideals. Researchers have found that women worldwide do not view themselves as beautiful and are consistently troubled about their appearance and concluded that six out of ten girls are concerned about their appearances (Dove 2014). As a result, anxiety and self-consciousness are all contributing factors producing significant health concerns among women (Aubrey 2007). Media has developed a reputation in society for women to be held to unachievable beauty standards as they promote a “thin culture” (Hesse-Biber et al. 2006). This promotion of beauty standards has inspired the body image movement to educate and encourage women to love their bodies in order to achieve more self-esteem and confidence (Dove 2014). As well as, corporations are beginning to

The main character of the novel Thirteen Reasons Why, Hannah Baker, committed suicide because of thirteen “reasons” that she divulged in a set of audiotapes. These reasons were people who either bullied her in some cruel way, or just ignored the fact that Hannah needed help. Whatever their crime against Hannah, each of these people affected her identity. Most of them negatively, but not all.

In the past decades Suicide was a taboo topic to talk about especially in a movie or show. In the last decade suicide has become a less taboo topic. Especially this year after the show “13 Reasons Why” was released. The show is about a girl named Hannah who committed suicide and left tapes for each person who had a hand to play in her suicide.

This moment sheds a light on how body-shaming can affect someone’s mental state. Now, in the present, psychologist understand how body-shaming can lead to mental illnesses like body dysmorphic disorder, depression, and many more. (Weingarden et

An analysis done by the National Institute of Health revealed, that plenty of Pro-Anorexia or "Thinspiration" websites and blogs support extreme weight loss and eating disorders, masquerade as fitness inspiration websites. This caused plenty of body dysmorphia sufferers to restrict their diets, which is potentially hazardous as the content should supposedly be devoted to healthy pursuits. Social media is also an outlet where a person can be exposed to body shaming, which serves as a trigger for those already suffering from the

To begin, body image is affected by social media. When men and women see ads and magazines with people with perfect bodies that are impossible to get, it lowers self esteem about their body image. In addition, these images are mostly photoshopped also. Patrick Kelleher, from the article “No body is perfect: is it possible to be happy with our bodies when we are constantly being bombarded with images of perfection?” explains “The images we see get stuck in our head, it makes everyone think they need to look like that.” (Kelleher). The text says that social media makes it impossible to feel good about are bodies. In fact, the images we see are photoshopped, but no one knows that. Women and men get distracted from these pictures and makes them obsessed with trying to look like that. This can also lead to eating disorders and anxiety. People get affected by social media when images get stuck in our heads. What social media doesn't show is imperfect bodies. In

Body-Shaming is known as criticizing or humiliating someone by making impolite comments on an individual's body shape or size. Body-shaming is a subject that has been recently brought to light with the use of social media; many celebrities have talked about body-shaming along with quite a few other individuals who have even went out to do social experiments. Generations and generations have passed and as the years go by, the problems only seems to get worse. Comments like “you should put more meat on your bones” and “you should go on a diet” are both equally demeaning and overused. It shouldn’t matter what someone’s body size or shape is to anyone as long as that person is happy and content with himself or herself. Almost everyone has

First, lets analyze why the media ridicule both men and women’s body. Men have been more conscious of the fact that their six pack is not there. This makes them more self conscious of their bodies. Thus, celebrities have a huge impact in the social media. The body shaming trend stems from the fact people are likely to be more critical of images because that is what they are getting accustomed to analyzing. But to make a person feel poorly about their personal image is not okay and not the purpose why celebrities should do it. Social media gives us the complex ability to share almost anything with followers, and no one . Women see their favorite actress and wish to be like them. The

discrimination. Television has corrupted society with the idea of “the perfect body” and fueled the idea of body shaming. People often try to excuse body shaming by tying it to the health risks associated with being anorexic or obese. Body shaming can lead to the development of eating disorders, self-harm, or worse- suicide. Nothing good can come of social discrimination.