We live in a time when a desire for change seems more prevalent than ever, thanks to the Internet. When you watch television or read magazines or surf the web, you’ll find that there are so many people taking the opportunity to use modern day technology to try to make a difference in everyday life by building awareness about an issue they want to change. The topic in particular for this article is body image and the issue is fat shaming.
There are global campaigns to encourage people to love their bodies and themselves, plus-sized models who are gaining fame, bloggers who talk about how they want to simply change the repulsed reaction to the concept of “fat”. Changing the practice of fat shaming will still take time. Now, people have real data about what it means to be overweight and know how to provide support to those who struggle with body image.
People who have trouble with their weight may be going through so many different things that could contribute to why they are “fat.” But even then, “skinny” doesn’t necessarily mean “healthy” and “fat” doesn’t mean “disgusting.” When people judge others based on their appearance, the assumptions can be harmful, so incredibly uninformed, and lacking compassion. It’s tough in society sometimes when physical appearance bears so much importance and there is such a glamorized goal for the best kind of appearance. So if it’s tough in society already, does it make any sense to pile on negativity or shame on a person, who could be struggling with so many insecurities and problems besides weight, as method to motivate? I feel like my answer is obvious.
This article is in response to the recent Youtube video that’s becoming infamous. The creator of the video calls it “humor” and “satire,” but my sense of humor was totally drained when I heard the lines, “Fat shaming is not a thing. Fat people made it up,” and how fat people loving themselves is “assisted suicide.” Unfortunately, it’s easily viewable on Youtube. I wouldn’t want to censor the woman who posted this outrageous and aggravating content but it seems she is ok in censoring views different from hers as she disabled the comment portion of the video.
Here are some people talked about the faults in fat shaming. Feel free to leave your comments below.
Some people expressed anger toward the video.
Some people shared themselves as a response.
Some people couldn’t stop thinking about other people in response.
And some people decided to educate instead.
Don’t let fat shaming continue. It’s not helpful and creates divisions between us. We need to eliminate this idea of “otherness” and cultivate openness and understanding in our society.