Nutrition and Healthy Living

4 Tips to Deal with Body Shaming Comments

What Is Body Shaming?

Body Shaming: Any action or expression that mocks, criticises, or humiliates one’s bodily features, body shape, or size.

4 Tips to Deal with Body Shaming

Whether it’s a family gathering, or an afterschool hangout with friends, we’ve all been caught in the crossfire of a rogue body shaming comment. “You’ve gained too much weight over the holidays” … “You’re too skinny” … “Nobody is going to find you attractive with all that body hair” … The list goes on. So how do you respond to this? Here are some tips on dealing with body shaming comments.

  1. Process your emotions
    Take a moment to think to yourself about the comments that were made towards you. How did those comments make you feel and what emotions did you feel? Did the comments come from someone close to you or a stranger? These kinds of questions will help you decide how to approach your next steps.

  2. Start a conversation
    If the comments came from someone close to you, then start a conversation. Be honest and open up
    to them about your feelings and emotions towards their comments. If the comments came from a
    stranger, stand up for yourself and speak out about your feelings. This can help others realise if they
    are body shaming without even knowing it.

  3. Boundaries & Space
    If you’ve tried to have an honest conversation with someone, but they still continue to make body
    shaming comments to you then it may be time to establish firm boundaries. Whether it’s someone you know, or a complete stranger, take action and actively voice your concerns during conversations (e.g. “I’m not comfortable to talk about my body weight lets change the topic”, etc.). If this doesn’t work, it may be helpful to take some space and distance yourself from them until you feel better.

  4. Seek Professional Help
    If body image begins to affect your day-to-day activities, it is recommended to seek professional help.

Body shaming comments can be difficult to deal with, especially if you’re constantly receiving them. We hope these tips can help you deal with those situations. It is important to love and be comfortable with yourself (that includes your body). But it is also important to stand up for yourself and actively voice your concerns to others. Most importantly, be kind to yourself and remember that your body is not a representation of your self-worth!