The woes of body shaming I’ve always been on the heavier side of the scale when it comes to weight and unsurprisingly; I’ve gotten tons of flak for how ‘big’ I was from my toddler years. As a very impressionistic young girl, these messages about there seeming to be something wrong with the way I look, drove me to the extent of trying all sorts of things to keep the weight off. Imagine my surprise after giving birth and losing tons of weight and having people come up to me and then making comments about how ‘unhealthily skinny’ I was! The transformation of my body during all these different stages has really forced me to dedicate time and effort towards loving myself and not just on the inside, but on the outside too and not just the bits that I like, but the parts that I’m often made to feel don’t meet the imaginary standards set up by the invisible societal hands that try to control how we ‘should’ look! After all these years of taking insults against my body and how I look, I only recently learned that there is an umbrella term that refers to these types of verbal attacks on the body called ‘body shaming’. Very simply put, body shaming is the act of harmful criticism directed toward yourself or others solely based on aspects pertaining to physical appearance. A recent social media episode really displayed just how body shaming leads to a vicious cycle of disparagement and judgement and how it only perpetuates a self-loathing, hatred-spewing society. Other than that, the act of body shaming can have some adverse emotional and psychological impacts on those at the receiving end of body shaming. Some disorders that can be worsened because a person is being judged and criticised because of their physical appearance are, anorexia nervosa, bulimia and body dysmorphic disorder. The most commonly known of the three being anorexia nervosa which is a serious, potentially dangerous eating disorder characterised by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. Some of the symptoms of anorexia include excessive weight loss, denial of hunger, weight anxiety and excessive exercise routine. The second most commonly known in my opinion is bulimia nervosa is also an eating disorder that is characterised by periods of binging, overeating, which is followed by purging (forcing yourself to vomit). Usually people with bulimia have an overwhelming fear of gaining weight. Finally, there is body dysmorphic disorder which is a mental disorder whereby you are unable to stop thinking about perceived defects or imperfections in your appearance. These perceptions can make you feel so ashamed and anxious that you may avoid many social situations. Generally speaking; body shaming can manifest in various ways by thinking or speaking about your appearance in a negative way, by thinking or speaking negatively about or towards others. Regardless of how it manifests, body shaming oftentimes builds towards comparison and shame, creating the notion that people should be judged and reduced only to their physical appearance.www.yogabybeauty.wordpress.com