What is body shaming?
There is no singular definition of body shaming, but the practice involves any behavior that makes someone feel ashamed of their physical appearance. It's usually expressed as negative comments or actions, such as harsh criticism, physical or emotional bullying, unasked-for advice, or even jokes.
Not all body shaming is intentional, however. People may offer comments or advice that they genuinely think is well-meaning, but that ultimately makes someone feel bad about themselves.
Body shaming can happen in all sorts of environments. Peers at school or work are common sources, but it can also come from partners, teachers, parents and other family members, healthcare workers, or even strangers.
It can also be internalized, with someone directing negative thoughts or comments at their own appearance. This type of self-inflicted body shaming may be the most dangerous, contributing to feelings of depression, low self-esteem, and other mental and physical health concerns.1
What causes body shaming?
Nobody is born knowing how to make people feel bad about their body. The concept is learned, through messages spread by popular culture, peers, and sometimes even medical professionals.
Cultural ideals
Western cultures have long held up a thin, toned body as the beauty ideal. This image can be found everywhere—in advertisements, movies and TV shows, and across social media. Even though these images are almost always heavily edited, they have become "normalized," shaping many people's ideas of what an "appropriate" body looks like. To exist outside of this—or any—norm is a common reason to feel shame or experience shaming.
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Diet culture, fitness culture, and wellness culture take this concept to the next level. In these belief systems, there is only one "correct" body type—lean and toned—and it is implied that attaining it should be everyone's top priority. Not having this body type, it follows, points to a lack of ambition, improper priorities, or even a lack of morality.
2 These ideas can work to justify or drive body shaming comments.
Diet and fitness culture also frequently supply people with misinformation about body weight and health. This can lead to body shaming comments meant as helpful, if unsolicited, advice. Sadly, even those in the medical field aren't immune to these influences, and many adults report experiencing body shaming at the doctor's office.
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Media representation
The way people with certain body types are commonly portrayed in the media is strongly tied to Westernized beauty ideals. And this can lead to the formation of stereotypes that inform body shaming and similar behavior.
One study found that mass media—including news, entertainment, social media, and advertising—not only shaped public understanding and attitude toward health and weight, but frequently lead to negative attitudes about larger individuals, thanks to an over-representation of thin bodies, using weight-related humor, and spreading misinformation about being overweight.5
Social modeling
In a society where misleading health information and unrealistic beauty ideals are widespread and deeply embedded, it can be easy to absorb these ideals, consciously or not.
Many people grow up in households where these views are common and may learn body shaming directly from their caregivers. Children as young as preschool-age have been found to discriminate based on weight, and weight is the most common reason older children report being teased or bullied at school.1,3
Once again, the content people consume can also play a role. Across media created for entertainment purposes, people in larger bodies were found to be the subjects of ridicule or humor, and were more likely to be portrayed as "deserving" of harsh treatment.5 Someone watching these programs can "learn" that this is common and appropriate behavior.
Different types of body shaming
It can be tricky to have just one body shaming definition, as body shaming manifests in several ways.
Overall, if someone perceives a comment or action as offensive, negative, or shame-inducing, it could likely be considered body shaming.3 More specifically, the behavior often appears in some common forms.
Verbal bullying
Verbal body shaming is very common, and can take many different forms. Cruel and intentional insults are sadly a frequent form of body shaming, along with negative comments on someone's body, weight, or looks.
Shaming can also come in the form of criticism, both intentional and unintentional. This can look like sharp comments on what someone is wearing or how they eat, or can manifest as unsolicited advice. These types of comments may even be well-meaning, but ultimately have the effect of making someone feel ashamed of the way they look or the body they have.
Body shaming comments are also frequently dressed up as jokes. These can be directed at one's self or someone else, but the idea is usually related to the sad and untrue stereotypes that people in larger bodies are lazy, slovenly, unattractive, or not "worthy" of social status.
Physical shaming
Physical shaming is often more subtle than other forms of body shaming. It can be seen in non-verbal cues or gestures that express disgust or physical separation from someone being shamed, which emphasizes the idea of their "otherness."
It can also be overt, coming in the form of physical bullying, hazing, or teasing related to someone's body weight.
Peer pressure
Frequently, body shaming can look like peer pressure. Someone may be encouraged to try a certain diet or cleanse, take exercise classes or join a gym, or try to reach a "goal" weight, whether on their own or with others.
These types of suggestions can be made as a direct comment on someone's body, a more subtle implication that their body is not the "right" shape or size, or even without thought to the potential hurt they can cause.
This type of pressure can also be self-inflicted. Someone may experience body dissatisfaction from comparing themselves to others or against certain beauty ideals and wish to change their body in order to "fit in."3
Medical body shaming
Weight stigma is a common phenomena in the medical field, with healthcare providers shown to exhibit both implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) bias against people in larger bodies.6
This can manifest as everything from spending less time with a patient, to not taking a patient's health concerns seriously, to believing a patient's weight is at the center of their issues and recommending weight loss as a solution, while making few if any other considerations.6
This behavior can be driven by several factors. Healthcare professionals are people too, and are subject to the same media, cultural, and social influences as everyone else. But they also may be professionally misinformed.
The medical field has long focused on measures like the body mass index (BMI) as indicators of overall health.6 As a result, doctors may make recommendations that over-emphasize a person's weight, despite growing research that BMI, and body weight in general, are not accurate indicators of health.7
The psychological and emotional impacts of body shaming
Body shaming culture is not only widespread, it can lead to hurtful, harmful, or even dangerous outcomes.
This type of bullying and stigmatization has been connected to a number of mental health concerns, including:
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- Depression
- Low self-esteem
- Low self-worth
- Social anxiety
Some studies have even connected it to an increased risk for suicidality and suicidal ideation.9
Being the subject of body shaming, and especially fat shaming, has also been tied to a higher chance of developing an eating disorder.1,3,5 There are many likely reasons for this overlap, including the feelings of depression, low self-esteem, and social isolation that can frequently result from body shaming and work to drive eating disorders.
Experiencing body shaming has also been connected to maintaining a higher weight in adulthood.3 This could make someone more vulnerable to developing disordered eating behaviors, especially if they also have self-esteem or body image concerns. It could also lead to frequent dieting, which has been linked to disordered eating.8
How to address and combat body shaming
Body shaming is an unfortunate reality, but it doesn't have to be. If you’ve experienced body shaming, there are ways to overcome the hurt it can cause, and there are other tips to help avoid or stop body shaming altogether.
Reevaluate your influences
One of the most immediate ways to dampen the influence of body shaming is reevaluating your social connections. This includes both real-life friends and
social media influences.
It can be helpful to go through your social media accounts and really pay attention to who you're following, and the messages they're promoting. As you comb through, make sure to unfollow any brands, creators, or friends that promote unrealistic beauty ideals, biased or judgmental content, or harmful ideas from diet, fitness, or wellness cultures.
With real life friends, this process may be more difficult, or painful. If someone frequently makes negative comments about your appearance, try to have an honest conversation with them about how it makes you feel, and ask them to think about and change their actions. If they don't stop, you may want to reevaluate the friendship all together.
Speak up
Changing social attitudes is a long and difficult process, but one of the best ways to raise awareness of an issue is by speaking up.
If you experience, or witness, body shaming, there's nothing wrong with calling someone out on their actions. You can tell them that what they're doing or saying is hurtful and unnecessary, and tell them to stop. They may not even be aware of what they're doing, or the potential harm it can cause.
It can also be helpful to do more research on “what is body shaming,” so you can feel more comfortable spotting it and confronting it in social situations.
Cultivate self-love
Perhaps the most powerful way to put a stop to the negative effects of body shaming is by
cultivating self-love.
There are a number of ways to feel better about yourself, regardless of your body shape or size. Treat yourself with kindness by practicing self-care and other activities that make you feel good. Recite
positive mantras to help encourage positive thoughts. Find positive outlets for any stress you may be feeling.
If you are struggling with body image and eating behaviors, you may also want to look into concepts like
mindful eating. This can help you develop a more positive relationship with food and guard against the development of an eating disorder. And try to catch any moments of negative self-talk, reminding yourself instead that you are beautiful and worthy, just as you are.
Of course, changing a perspective, especially one that's been long embedded and socially reinforced, can be an uphill journey. If you're struggling with disordered eating thoughts or behaviors, negative self-talk, thoughts of self-harm, or just generally not feeling your best, you can always reach out to a mental health professional for more advice and tools to help. And try to remember: positive change happens one day at a time.
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