Body Shaming

     A couple of weeks ago I read an article about a woman, Simone Anderson, who was accused of faking her 190-pound weight loss all because people couldn't see "proof" that she had lost all of that weight. To them it was impossible that she could be the same woman from the before and after pictures because she didn't have any excessive, sagging skin. In fact, she looked toned and muscular. Yet, instead of letting all of the hate dishearten her, Ms. Anderson decided to bravely show everyone the true effects of her weight-loss. Underneath, her high waisted pants was all of the extra skin she had leftover from her weight-loss. It was an incredibly difficult thing to do and Ms. Anderson knew that she would most likely receive negative comments about the way she looked. However, she decided to expose herself because she knew that it was the only way to encourage others struggling with similar issues to learn how to accept and love themselves and all of their flaws.
   The extent to which people struggling with their weight are body-shamed is never ending. They are shamed for being overweight. and when they "do something about it," they are still shamed for not living up to the exceptions that society has about the way they should look. Whether those expectations are to have these people look like photo-shopped models or having them expose the effects of losing so much weight. We need to stop shaming overweight people because the only ones who truly know whether or not they are healthy at their weight is these people and their doctors. Instead, we should be genuinely happy for the achievements that others accomplish through hard work and determination.