Body Shaming - It comes in all shapes and sizes

I am a supporter and I like to help build people up. If someone asks me for help or advice then I will take the time to talk to them about what it is that they want to do. I believe in raising people up and watching them fly, call me crazy but I like watching people succeed. It is for this reason that I just cannot get my head around anybody promoting anything less than that. I cannot understand body shaming no matter which perspective that I look at it from. 

Body shaming is everywhere.

Body shaming is anything negative that is said about ANY person, and body shaming is not just directed at women, it is directed at the entire human race. Body shaming is pointing out specific qualities on a person and viewing them as a negative, body shaming is using the qualities about what makes them who they are, against them. 

I have been targeted in the past for being 'skinny', and the ironic thing is that the people who have made comments about me, have never once considered that what they say is exactly the same as comments that are made about larger people. Of course when people say horrible things about bigger framed ladies, this is rude and is referred to as fat shaming, but those same comments targeted at smaller framed girls are equally as damaging, and should be seen in the same light.

One of the main points directed at me is my small chest. I have small boobs, and do you know what? That's ok. As a teenager I felt very self conscious about this fact, I willed them to grow but not even with all the wishing power sent their way did they ever really blossom past a B cup. It's taken me well into my late 20's to really accept them and realise that even though they aren't as big as I once wished them to be, they are still part of who I am and that makes them beautiful.

I finally realised that I am in proportion, I am slim and so are my boobs, and I am happy in the skin that I am in.

You only have to look to the tabloids to see body shaming in it's finest form, whether Victoria Beckham is being ripped apart for her slender physique or if Lady Gaga's incredible voice takes a back seat as fans go into a frenzy over her supposed 'flabby tummy', the everyday likes of you and I are surely in for serious trouble!

We have to ask ourselves what gives us the right to comment? What gives us the right to an opinion on the way that somebody looks? No matter how hard I press myself to think about it I just cannot come up with an answer that would validate the comments and the hate that body shaming generates. 

We live in a generation that puts girl on girl, boy on girl, boy on boy and girl on boy, there is an expectation to how we are supposed to look, an expectation on having the 'perfect body', but what even is a perfect body? Does such a thing even exist? Surely if you are happy in the skin you are in  then it does not matter how everyone else around you looks, all that matters is that they too are happy in their own bodies, and we provide the support and guidance in order to help the rising generations feel accepted and loved for exactly who they are.

I can only imagine the damage that today's judgement and hate for one another will have on our children.

As a Mother I am raising Leo to understand that people come in all shapes, colours and sizes, it's what makes us all so unique and so different from one another, and that's ok. Can you imagine if we all looked the same? How boring would that be. We are diverse and not one person is the same, whether we have birthmarks, different skin colours, one leg, we're big, we're small, one eye, no eyes, big hair, flat hair, big boobs, little boobs or ANYTHING that makes us stand out from the crowd, they are things that we should be promoting and CELEBRATING!

They are the things that make us who we are, and the things that make us beautiful.

Body shaming is pointing out specific qualities on a person and viewing them as a negative, body shaming is using the qualities about what makes them who they are, against them. 

I put myself in the public eye, I share my fitness journey, and I accept that I won't be everybody's cup of tea. The reason that I share my fitness journey is not about vanity, it is not about putting myself in the limelight. It is to showcase that anybody can make a change if they so desire. I get messages everyday asking for advice on how people can live a healthier life, and I love that I get to try and help so many different people from my own personal experiences, but then equally I get my share of negative comments...

I have thick skin, and I am very proud of that thick skin. I can read the negative comments about myself and smile. I can laugh it off, but then I think about it.... Not everybody is as thick skinned as I am. Why should they have to feel inferior about comments that are made about them in public? The answer is that they shouldn't. 

The internet gives everybody a voice, and they use that voice to say things to people that they would ordinarily never say to somebody's face. The internet provides a comfortable setting for people to literally say whatever pops into their heads, and I don't really think that these people give much thought into what they say.

The time has come for people to stop and think, because the things they say will have repercussions, maybe not directly on themselves but almost certainly to the people that they address them to.

It's time to remember that kindness has the power to make you the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what you look like.