Body Shaming and Body Image
Authors: Dong-Anh Ngo, Antonia Gonzalez
In episode 15 of the Narrative Project, members of the UCI community discuss their personal experiences with body image and body shaming and how it overlaps with the normalization of violence.
The first question revolves around what body shaming and body image mean to the community members and how they think it overlaps with the normalization of violence. The group discusses their own experiences of how their families, peers, and cultural values shape how they negatively view their bodies through the harmful yet normalized body-shaming language they were using.
Some experiences are perceived as “jokes” and sneering remarks such as “age 15, my brother stated no one wanted a fat chick… at age 20 someone said no one wants a fat girl….” Other experiences included remarks implicating an eating disorder and comments such as “your legs are like chopsticks, I can break them….”
“We should always believe the victim….”
The next question regards how body image and body shaming overlap with both physical and verbal violence. The group discusses how these comments can perpetuate dangerous ideas and invalidate survivors. Additionally, there was discourse about how people use social media platforms such as TikTok to come out with their sexual assault stories. Still, people would viciously berate the survivor if they’re on the bigger side, stating things like “no one would want you… you’re making up lies to feel better about yourself…etc.” The group also discusses the message ingrained in society and family units, with an individual remembering that they internalized the message that being overweight is “disgusting and their fault.” These harmful messages become normalized language, enabling the cycle of not believing survivors and perpetuating false stereotypes. If you would like to explore the effects of sexual abuse on body image, please refer to this study
The group delves deeper into how media affects body image and body shaming. There are some positive effects with people trying to promote awareness of eating disorders and body shaming experiences. The group discussed how people could come out with their eating disorder to encourage awareness, yet there are negative comments that they can’t have a disorder because someone is bigger. Additionally, the group discusses how harmful media can perpetuate multiple stereotypes. An individual stated how Zootopia is an example of fatphobic rhetoric, having a “fat cheetah eating a burger” as a comedic break, as well as tropes of curvier and bigger folks being used as a joke or comedic tool. This comes back to how representation matters, and how the media fosters various unhealthy tropes that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Please refer to this article if you would like to explore different social media effects on body shaming and eating disorders.
In the next section, the group discusses how they cope with unrealistic body images in the media. There are various approaches such as finding a healthy support system that supports and uplifts them, taking a bolder approach in self-love and acceptance, and going against the grain when it comes to wearing what they want despite what others say.
The conversation shifts towards the educational system and how it can perpetuate body-shaming by unfairly implementing dress codes. The group shares their own experiences of how this has affected them and briefly touches on how education systems can better support their students who face body shaming and body image issues. If you would like to explore more about racial and gender disparities with the dress code system, please refer to this article.
Next, there is a discussion on how culture and family can affect one’s body image. The group circles back to their experiences of how their family can continue a cycle of vicious remarks on their body image that takes a toll on them. Additionally, folks from different cultures talked about how there’s already a preconceived toxic standard of an ideal body/weight in their culture and how this can negatively affect their perception of self. This leads to the explanation of how tied body image can be with one’s identity.
In the next section, there’s the discourse on a “preferred” body type in society. The group agrees that different communities can get divisive and point fingers to blame another community for having it easier because social media can perpetuate harmful discourse. For example, both smaller and larger folks can do the same trend, but one group might be shamed for doing it, causing the community to feel invalidated. Additionally, an individual mentioned that harmful and normalized slang such as “real women have curves” is transphobic and invalidates specific folks who may be thinner.
After this discussion, there’s a brief discussion on how COVID-19 and the pandemic affected their body images. The group explained both the positive and negative effects of quarantining at home. Though it has caused some folks to gain weight, there’s time alone to reflect and work on themselves. Another individual spoke about struggling with eating disorders, stress eating, and food scarcity.
Moving forward, for folks who are looking into ways to take steps towards a more positive body image or looking for resources to share with their friends and family, here are 10 small steps to look into! Like the group stated, a healthy support system is vital to uplift and support folks who battle with body shaming and eating disorders. Check out this article for some ways you can support someone who is struggling with body image issues!
