Why should I feel ashamed?

In a world that increasingly links fitness with the cut of one’s shape or figure, it is important to remember that not everyone has to look or be the same way, for it would otherwise be a hopelessly mundane or colorless world, where everyone looked the same, with no visible difference. I am not against health but in the world of today, health is linked with a slim or trim figure, or a figure of a certain shape instead of being allowed to mean the complete set of physical and non-physical set of characteristics that make a person capable of accomplishing his/her/their set of particular tasks, and therefore would vary for every person. Instead, health has become associated with an athletic body, where every muscle responds but at the lightest touch, and where the body is or should be flexible or supple, like that of a panther or a tiger and so on. 

My question is: why? Why stereotype health and why popularize and glamourize a curvaceous figure which is passed off as womanly, and in case of men, a body which resembles that of a chiseled statue or a hill-side blasted by dynamite. There is no need to do so, and yet, that is precisely what has been going on for millennia now. 

What I would like to say is that apart from soldiers, paramilitary troops, or other military personnel, or even spies or gymnasts or athletes representing their country internationally, it is strictly not necessary to have such a body, because where would they put it to use? In running to catch their daily commute to their offices, or to heave bags of vegetables up the staircases? Of course, everyone is entitled to their own personal choices, but this freedom of choice begins to be disconcerting when other people who do not have their physique begin to be ridiculed by them, or body-shamed, to put it crudely. 

And that my dear readers, is what I’m very strictly against, for while it is alright to want to look like a diva or a rugged person, it is NOT ALRIGHT to body-shame others solely because are they are COMFORTABLE ENOUGH in their own skin to look the way they want. Sadly, they are ridiculed even for being comfortable about their bodies and are made to feel as though they are doing something wrong by not looking like perfectly made-up dolls or figurines. And contrary to popular facts, it is not just the “fat” people (in this century and age, fat translates to a stomach which is not thin or toned)  who are shamed, the “thin” people (in this century, thin refers to being lanky or having a minuscule amount of muscles) are shamed as well, and I’m talking about both men and women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community as well. Sadly, body shaming does not stop there, it also covers “short” people (women below 5’ 1; and men below 5’ 9) and “ugly” people (people who do not resemble unnaturally perfect photographs). 

I would simply like to say that, while freedom of choice is good, body-shaming of any kind is not, because there is nothing to be gained by that except a petty sense of self-satisfaction. Indeed, my dear readers, I would urge you to ask your ill-wishers the next time they try to shame you, “Yes, but why would I be ashamed?”. And lastly, but never the least, my dear readers, stay safe and stay healthy (the way you want to be)! Amen.