Body Shaming: Is It Naive For Someone To Expect Everyone To Accept Their Appearance Online?

When someone uses social media, they can share many different parts of their life, and along with this, they can share different parts of their body. However, while they can do this, it doesn’t mean that they will decide to share everything.

Instead, one can choose to only share certain parts of their life, and when it comes to their body, they may share very little. It might only be possible for other people to see this part of them with their clothes on.

The Other Side

But if this is not the case, it can mean that one will end up sharing just about everything online. They are then not going to hold back and it won’t be hard for other people to find things out.

And when it comes to their body, they may have a number of pictures where they are wearing very little. These could also be pictures where the only thing people can see is their body, or different parts of it.

Objectification

In this case, one may have pictures where only their lower body can be seen and/or their upper body, for instance. This can be seen as a way for them to express themselves, and they may even do it to show how they are progressing at the gym.

One is then choosing to use their body as an object and this will then be seen as something positive. Even so, this doesn’t mean that they will always have this outlook, and this is because they could respond differently when this takes place in the media.

Outrage

After seeing this in the media, they could end up getting angry, and say that they are using people, for instance. But then when they do it, it is going to be a different story, and this would then show that they are being hypocritical.

At the same time, one might not care about how people are portrayed by the media; they could just see it as being how life is. They could say that it has happened for a long time and so it is unlikely to change any time soon.

The Main Reason

In general, it could be said that one will share things on social media to keep their friends and family informed about what they have been doing. This is going to be a lot easier than if they were to get in touch with everyone personally.

And when the people on their friends list are people who they actually know, it is going to be a lot safer for them to share things. This is not to say that they won’t end up experiencing anything negative when they use social media; what it means is that it could be a lot worse if they added anyone.

Approval

Thus, when they share something on their wall, they may expect to receive a certain amount of approval. This will typically take place through receiving ‘likes’ and by people commenting on what they post.

At times, they may share something because they want to express themselves, and at other times, they may be looking for approval. Perhaps they are not having a good day, or they may want to know what people think of their appearance.
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Attachment

If they only want to express themselves, might not be very attached to how people respond. Yet, if they are looking for people tor respond in a positive manner, they could have the need for a certain outcome to arise.

As a result of this, it could be said that it will be better for them to share things out their need for self-expression. When they don’t do this, they will be allowing other people to define how they feel about themselves.

Appearance

Still, if one doesn’t feel completely comfortable with how they look or their body, they may find that sharing a picture online has a positive effect on them. The feedback that they get from other people could alter the idea they have formed.

Once they have received this feedback and as they start to see themselves differently, they might not need anything else. One can then carry on with their life and it might be quite some time before they go through the same process again.

Both Sides

However, when one does look for approval, there is always the chance that they won’t get it. And along with this, they could end up receiving responses from people that are not very pleasant.

This is part of life and something that can’t be avoided, and this is why it is important for one to bear this in mind when they are looking for approval. As if one shares something and they only expect good things from others, they could be in for a rude awakening.

Body Shaming

It could be said that there is an even greater chance that they won’t be approved of when they add people they don’t know and when they allow anyone to view their profile. One will then have opened themselves up to the whole world and anyone will be able to comment on what the share.

It is then not just going to be their friends and family who can see their updates; it will also be people who are abusive and find it hard to empathise with others, for instance. One could then end up feeling even worse about how they look, and this could then cause them to feel like a victim.

Naive

They could then stay in this state and retract, or they could end up complaining about how nasty some people are and try to change the world in some way. It will then be vital for them to do something about this injustice

Nonetheless, it could be said that one needs to realise that the world isn’t perfect, and that there will always be people who are not supportive of them. This doesn’t mean that this it acceptable, but by coming to terms with it one can save themselves a lot of trouble.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the internet has created a platform for people from all walks of life to express themselves, and this is something that needs to be understood. As although one can share things from the comfort of their own home or anywhere else for that matter, what they share can be seen by people who they wouldn’t want to be in the same room with, let alone the same country.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/