Body Shaming: Shame On Us

Sara of All In An Iowa Mom’s Day shared a story on her Facebook page the other day about a teenage girl and her mother at a department store and a clerk who said that the teen age girl needed Spanx.  The discussion that followed in the comments got me thinking about body shaming and how out of control it is.  Some of the comments that followed the story made me furious!  The majority of women on this post were incredibly supportive of course and saying that the clerk was out of line, but there were others that were insinuating that the girl would look better if she was wearing spanx underneath.  I was flabbergasted!

Then, the other day on Facebook I saw this photo floating around

and I was disgusted with our culture!  Shame on all of us!!

Have we as a society become so insensitive to those around us that we don’t care what we post, say, or project to others?  Have we really developed the need to divide society into those who are skinny and those who are chubby?  Don’t we have enough labels as it is without referencing the numbers on the tags of our clothes?  Why can’t we just accept others for what they are:  blue, brown, white, tall, short, chubby, skinny, etc.  As someone who has struggled with eating disorders, I don’t need someone telling me that skinny or fat is the way to be.  In today’s society, it seems as though either you are too fat or too skinny!  Stars and others are ridiculed for being too skinny!  Others are ridiculed for being too fat and needing to lose weight.  Do we really think that these folks don’t know what’s going on with their own body?  When people struggle with an eating disorder, they know.  When people are overweight, they know!  We do not need society to make a big deal out of it!

I don’t care if you’re skinny, fat, short, tall, or a homunculus, I only care about what is in your heart and how you treat others!  So, please!  Let’s stop with ALL the body shaming on all ends of the spectrum!  Let’s embrace each other for who we are on the inside and not worry about the outside.  Let’s work to build each other up and support each other instead of tearing each other down!