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CHAPTER 2
DATA COLLECTION: BODY SHAMING
2.1 The concept of ideal body image results in the Body Shaming
phenomenon
The globalization of media has paved way for Print and Television
advertisements to use images of thin female bodies to sell products, which are
viewed by women all over the world.
The researcher A. Poorani, from Bharathidasan University, reports that
Nationwide Surveys conducted in the US, between 1970s and 1980s and later
in 1990s, indicated that both men and women’s body image perceptions have
become more and more negative over time (Cash and Henry, 1995; Cash et al.,
1986, as cited in Poorani, 2012).
In the 20
th
century originated then the study of Body Image, in which many
researches were held to prove that men and women, from all over the world,
mostly feel bad about their body image especially due to the ideal concept of it
that people are exposed to in TV advertisements, fashion magazines and social
media. Paul Schilder, in “In The Image and Appearance of Human Body” of
1950, argues that body image is not only a cognitive construct, but also a
reflection of attitudes and interaction with others. He defines body image as:
“The picture of our own body which we form in our mind, that is to say, the way
in which the body appears to ourselves” (Schilder, 1950, as cited in Poorani,
2012). Since 1950, many other researchers have given ‘body image’ concept
many different meanings: perception of one’s own body attractiveness, body
size distortion, perception of body boundaries (Fisher, 1990, as cited in Poorani,
2012). Not only were there studies meant to prove that men and women feel
negatively about their body image, but also many others that attempted to
explore the behavior patterns adapted by especially women to achieve the body
ideals to which they were exposed.
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For instance, Gregory Fouts and Kimberly Burggraff (Poorani, 2012) held a
study of 18 situation comedies from prime time TV, in which they discovered
that the higher the weight of female character was depicted, the more likely it
was that negative comments were made by other characters about her or directly
to her. These negative comments were often followed by laughter which
suggested the audience that commenting negatively and rudely about someone’s
body features was a funny and right behavior.
When this kind of body image attack, especially towards women, spread all over
the internet community online, it has had its own reflection in one of the most
recent online phenomena for which it was coined the expression “Body
Shaming”, that will be addressed as the main subject of this dissertation.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary the definition of the noun “body-
shaming” [ˈbɔdi ʃeɪ. mɪŋ] is: << The action or practice of humiliating someone
by making mocking or critical comments about their body shape or size. >>
(Cambridge Dictionary). Thus, it could be defined as a defamatory and bullying
act, which has become very prominent in recent times.
In the act of body-shaming almost any physical characteristic can be targeted,
some kinds of Body Shaming have risen in ancient traditions, such as the
derision of the body against skin colour, or against redheads, or the religious
and cultural values shaming; another kind, perhaps the most prominent one
today, comes from the incessant pressure derived from mass media of the latest
20 years, regarding people weight topic, that resulted on the latest phobia called
“fatphobia”.
Derision of the body affects both sexes, men and women, both adults and
teenagers, who are, in either cases, constantly seeking for social acceptance.
Men can be subjects of discrimination for their body figure, too skinny or too
large, similarly to women. Nevertheless, it appears that “Body Shaming” is
more likely to happen to the latter, also in terms of body changes due to, for
example, natural reasons such as childbirth.
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Physical characteristics are mainly attacked because these may not seem to
adhere to the aesthetic canons of the culture or, those of the fashion world, in
which the victim lives. Although the aesthetic canons are often far from how
normal people look like, these are the main cause to the act of body-shaming
and to all of its damaging effects on the victims. When victims are derided of
their body and induced to shame, this shame reduces self-esteem and can lead
to numerous diseases, eating disorders - bulimia, anorexia, obesity -, anxiety,
depression and even worse, suicidal thoughts.
Body Shaming can happen in different ways, namely as a face to face attack, or
as an attack behind someone’s back, therefore related to bullying. When it
spreads on social media, it results in cyberbullying.
In this chapter, Body Shaming will be analysed from the social media
perspective: what brings people to attack VIPs and why do they do that; the
different kinds of this phenomenon; examples of some VIP’s Instagram posts
and the analysis of the rude comments they received; and what has been made
to try to avoid or combat Body Shaming online.
2.2 Why do people body shame others?
If Body Shaming, or shaming people in general, can lead to several negative
effects, the real questions to ask here are: “Why do people do it?” and “What
brings them to body shame others?”
There are various reasons why people tend to act in this way on social networks,
but the most common are:
Firstly, bullying that can be regarded to as the main reason why they tend to
attack and offend people. Indeed, body “Shamers” are usually bullies who
obtain pleasure from victimizing and deriding people. In terms related to Body
Shaming, a bully who shames you, may not even necessarily be someone
“skinny”, he or she can also be someone who looks similar to the shamed
person, and thus feeling sorry for themselves tend to act rudely towards others.
It is to say that their attack towards others is meant in order to take out their
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frustration about a particular situation, in this case their subconsciously
unaccepted body characteristics. Secondly, due to low self-esteem or as act of
hiding a part of the reality of others that also belong to them, but they are not
ready to accept it. Moreover, on account of feeling or thinking themselves, the
Shamers, to be “superior” (Superiority) than their interlocutor, and therefor in
need to judge their life pretending to have a better and most appropriate
knowledge about a particular situation, more than the victim does. Finally, the
discrimination can happen also because Body-Shamers simply want to be mean
towards others, making the victim feel bad about his or her body, in order to
reduce their self-confidence.
2.3 Different kinds of “Body shaming”
As mentioned above, Body Shaming comes in different ways, for example as
face to face or on social media interaction, and it is of two main kinds. It is
necessarily to underline that, where there is a side that offends, there is also a
side that defends the victims, instead.
Inevitably, when talking about derision of the body, or Body Shaming, the main
idea that comes over people, is an attack against someone who is ‘overweight’,
so directly connected to the concept of “fatphobia”- the intense fear or dislike
of fat, of becoming fat and of fat bodies -, which brings other people to attack
them and judge them for their physical appearance. In this case, the offending
side usually comments by judging the reason why those people are fat with:
“[…] because they are lazy”, “[…] they don’t have the willpower to exercise
or to eat healthy and take care of their body”, “it is their fault that they are
obese, us, fit people, should have not feel bad about their situation”, “[..] Put
down the f*** fork and stop eating!”, “it is sickening to think that you promote
such an unhealthy lifestyle”. On the other hand, the defending side speaks as
follow: “You don’t know their story, you can’t judge them”, “Have you ever
thought that they might have a medical issue, that causes them to have trouble
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losing weight?”, “I know lots of people, who eat right and exercise, but they
still gain weight. It is not their fault!”, “It’s their life”.
Other than fat-shaming, there is an opposite shaming, but with same bad results,
and it is called “Skinny shaming”, which happens both to women and to men.
The offending side of it, comments with: “Men like meat, not bones!”- towards
skinny women-, or “These skinny people are disgusting”, “It’s not healthy to
be skinny”. Whereas, the defending side answers back with: “They probably
just have a super high metabolism or something”, “If they are anorexic, you
should feel horrible for making fun of a mental illness, […]”.
2.4 Corpus and case studies
It goes without saying that any Instagram, Facebook, Twitter posts, regardless
of their content, but particularly if they belong to a well-known person, namely
VIPs, may potentially attract and receive both positive and negative comments.
Below, it will be reported and analysed some of the negative comments people
leave to VIPs posts, whether it is possible to analyse the meaning or what might
have brought that person to write such a negative comment, and the counter-
party, where displayed, that defends the VIPs picture or post.
VIPs chosen for this corpus are from USA, UK and Italy. This corpus begins
with Demi Lovato, Emily Ratajkowski and Chiara Ferragni, who received
several rude comments below their Instagram’s posts and some of these have
been copied down and, where possible, also analysed, and it will conclude with
the display Jesy Nelson’s experience addressed in her 2019 documentary about
Body Shaming attacks received in 2011.
2.4.1 Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato, an American singer and songwriter, who began her career in a
very young age, 10 years old. In her personal life she had to deal with several
personal issues, she suffered from depression, eating disorder, bulimia, self-
harm and she had been bullied before she went into rehabilitation at the age of
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