Do we only attack with weapons?

Wearing jeans would be better since putting on a skirt wouldn’t be safe, this top is too deep, people will call me a slut. If you’re healthy or “plus size”, wearing a dress is looked down upon because of societal norms and expectations.  This is the everyday dilemma a girl faces, not because “girls can never decide what to wear” but because “girls are always judged upon by what they wear”.

Being a girl and not having the perfect body type, that’s not acceptable. Even the textbooks state the expected measurements of a girl’s ideal body type or as they call it, figure. Too thin, they’ll call you flat, you’re healthy, they’ll call you thick. Everyone is unique in its own way then why do people discriminate on the basis of someone’s body type? 

The practice of body shaming by inconsiderate people, however is done verbally but it causes psychological and mental distress. Waking up disconsolate and wanting to get rid of your “imperfect body”, looking in the mirror and feeling that you’re plain looking despite being a beautiful creation of God. That’s something no one deserves to go through but unfortunately that’s what people, who are body shamed, feel. Just because they have a different body type others make them feel completely worthless and unfit for the society. This usually adds to their trauma and a dreadful end with giving up and putting an end to their miserable life.

The undermentioned story is of Cera, one such victim of body shaming.

One goes through a substantial number of changes during its adolescent years, not only corporeal changes but psychological changes as well. Cera was also at this juncture in her life. She was the femme fatale of her school. Talk about having the perfect looks, an unrivalled dressing sense and not to forget, a quintessential body, Cera had it all. She was on top of the world. Going out on dates, getting asked out, being the topic of everyone’s gossip was an everyday routine for her. The turning point in her life was when due to hormonal imbalance she gained a lot of weight. It didn’t make her look any less pretty but that’s what others at her school made her feel. The boys who were crazy after her started making fun of her and calling her by disgusting names, some days it would be a fat pig other days it would be an ugly cow. Her entire world turned upside down. She had no one to talk to, not even her family or friends, she was battling this alone. After a month of dealing with body image issues and shaming, she gave up to find solace in another world, better than the one she was living in, a world where no one would call her by names that killed her self esteem and made her feel worthless, a world where she would be accepted the way she is. 

It’s the 21st century but people still haven’t broadened their mindsets. They continue to discriminate people and not accept the way someone is. Even after all the nations attaining freedom why are there specifications for being socially accepted? 

Each and every person is a distinct creation of God and is magnificent in its own way then who are we to make them feel repugnant and worthless?