BODY SHAMING: MY TAKE

Do you have any insecurities concerning your body? Let's get 'real and personal'
Body shaming can be defined in various ways but the bottom line is; it's about making humiliating, critical and unpleasant comments about a person's physical appearance, as in size, height or weight. The pain of body shaming is usually inflicted  upon  'us' sometimes by the people we know or have met and maybe relate with and at times it's from total strangers.

MELANIN

Body shaming zeros down to a person or group of persons having their own standard of what beauty should be or conform to, and certainly imposing it on another person, which will never be "acculate" because every person is different. This is where the problem is, not every body will have an hour glass figure, supermodel weight, or a skin tone of a fairly tale princess. The fact that we are all different should be an indicator that we must learn to accommodate the different physiques of the people we meet and relate with in life.

Here are my personal encounters with this daring monster, I'm one of those slender beings weighing 44 kgs(97 lbs) and there is always pressure that comes with this. I have on many occasions met random people and to my disappointment, one will start off 'front-biting' me...(well not back-biting because i can overhear that shit! )..."gosh, she is so skinny"..."my goodness, those are some tiny legs she's got".... These are the kind ones. The rough fellas be like; "rya ku mele banange" meaning...eat some food. Some other rude guy once threw a comment: 'ehh, nyabo nga size yo sigiyina, kebera ko mu kid's section' meaning; madam, I don't have your size of clothes, why don't you go check in the kids' section? Haha... sometimes when I look back at such horrible people and comments, there is a part of me that goes ...how could anyone be that mean and inconsiderate!

I'm Unapologetically Me!

See, however much we can try to be who and what we are in the best versions, people will always find a crooked line along the contours: Katelyn Ohashi, one of the most amazing gymnasts of this era, who managed to make a perfect 10 score in January this year (hey, I love gymnastics so I know some of these things) is also a victim of body shaming and sadly  among the bullies were her very own coaches, that's ridiculous! Why would anybody focus on something less than the talented beautiful person she is! Now you know that the human race will never have enough to appreciate, unfortunately.
 Now, here is the thing, usually it's not what you say but how you say it that breaks or mends. Learning how well we can package our words and messages is key, don't be another burden to someone who is already battling excruciating pains of the heart, be nice, if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all.

Katelyn Ohashi Makes Me Believe In MAGIC!

We all have a part of us that is still under construction, maybe we are trying to work on our self esteem, confidence or even self love but one human being pops into our lives and waters down everything that we have labored to sculpture  for long with just a phrase! How about we give each other room to grow and be the great people we dream of becoming minus looking down on other's physical appearance!

But at the end of the day, you don't need validation from other people for your worth, once you know who you are, whatever they say is pointless because these people don't feed you, neither do they pay your damn bills. Guess what, if you take a minute to observe these people(which you shouldn't waste time doing), 90 percent of them are not any better, if anything they are much wounded on the inside and worse still what else can they offer the world apart from finding a bin to lessen the trash engraved in their scars! I don't mean to be rough or say that you should play tit for tat, no, just know a person who invests in body shaming others has much less of everything, look up, adjust your crown and be the queen/king in that empire that you have fought hard to build. Opinions ain't facts, just let them fade off.

I Love u My African Weather My Sweet Sunshine

Dealing with body shaming can be pretty hard but it has to start from within. When we are young, we don't even know how we have "protruding tummies, big boobs, tiny thighs" and all those things that people keep rubbing in our face, its all brought to our attention by other people so learning your body and loving it will save you a great deal of suffering. Also, accepting compliments is a huge part of overcoming this, don't reject a genuine compliment, it could be all you need to reboot
 your mindset and move on! I love you guys and i feel for all those who have been body shamed in all kinds of ways, refuel and keep on moving. Till next Friday, DON'T LET ANYONE RAIN ON YOUR PARADE, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!