Recently, we all have seen or shared the story of Samin. A 10th grader, bullied mercilessly by his classmates and even teachers. Just because he was considered fat and overweight by societal standards. With harsh words and taunts, they ruined his self-esteem, drove him to develop anorexia nervosa, and finally into the ground.
Body shaming refers to the act or practice of humiliating a person based on their body type by making derogatory and/or mocking statements about their body shape and size. This is a form of bullying present not only in educational institutions but carried on to work and family life.
Statistics indicate that 94 percent of teenage girls have been body-shamed closely followed by 65 percent of teenage boys. Present everywhere, bullies choose the easiest target, the ones having characteristics they consider shameful and act as self-appointed judges, jury, and executioners.And then we get the enablers, the ones we trusted enough to confide to, telling us all the time, that words can’t really hurt.