A PROJECT REPORT ON

ALS Project, Term 2, English Core

By group 2 class XII C
Akhila k, Aparna nair, Balabhaskar Unnikrishnan,
Devadathan S, Eirene S John
Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir ,Eroor
 Acknowledgement

We express our gratitude to Mrs. Vijayalakshmi

Padmaraj, our English Teacher and Guide, who guided
us through the project and also gave valuable
suggestions and guidance for completing the
project. She helped our group to understand the
intricate issues involved in project-making besides
effectively presenting it. These intricacies would have
been lost otherwise. Our project has been a success only
because of her guidance.

Name of the student: ----------

Roll No:-------------------------- ---------------
Signature

Team members
 Akhila k,
 Aparna nair
 Balabhaskar Unnikrishnan
 Devadathan S
 Eirene S John
 INDEX
Sl.No. Description Page No
From To
1. OBJECTIVES 1 1

2. REPORT 2 14

3. REFLECTIONS 15 15

4. EVIDENCES 16 19

5. STUDENT PLANNING SHEET 20 21

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 22 22
 OBJECTIVES
This study explored the vastness of most common scenario of
body shaming .This study is a result of thorough research and
group work

There are the areas that are expected to be covered

1. spreading awareness regarding the different phrases of
body shaming

2. famous ads and self-love campaigns

3. listing supportive NGOs

4. famous personalities including instagram influencers ,

Bollywood actors sharing their experiences on body
shaming and how they overcame it

5. Are pageant competitions yet another platform for body

shaming?:a debate

6. possible remedies on overcoming body shaming and

standing up against it
 BODY SHAMING
PROJECT REPORT
Abstract
Background:

The topic body shaming is a combination of wide variety of sufferings of a

certain group of people. In short it defines “mocking of a person's physical
appearances. The scope of body shaming is wide, and can include, although is
not limited to fat-shaming, shaming for thinness, height-shaming, shaming of
hairiness (or lack thereof), of hair-colour, body-shape, one's muscularity (or
lack thereof), shaming of looks (facial features)

It is important to know understand the influence of body as a symbol of one

itself, on a social society like ours

Method:

This study includes a questionnaire to understand questionnaire to know how a

person would react when they see a person being body shamed and approach
them, using age as an index

Result:

The study shows that the concept of a perfect physical appearance has been
imposed on them at an early stage. The collective possible causes have been
included in this study

Conclusion:

This study surely believes that beauty lies within the eyes of the beholder and
hopes that this would be an eye opener for the reader
 INTRODUCTION
„Body shaming‟ is a term that we come across quite often that each time we
hear it we claim it as an insignificant and underestimate it. The term explains
itself and briefly translated it to „as practice of making critical, potentially
humiliating comments about a person‟s body, size or weight‟. It is obvious that
all of us come in different shapes and sizes but society and the media puts a lot
of pressure on us with beauty stereotypes and standards to deem some as
healthy and some not. This becomes a major problem when people find it
difficult to accept and thus try endlessly to achieve what they believe to be
„ideal features‟.

It is relevant in today's world because the suicides resulting due to body

shaming harassments is the fourth leading cause of death in 15-19-year-olds.
Adults suffer negative emotional effects, including a reduction in self-esteem
and other issues such as eating disorders, anxiety and body image disturbance
all leading to serious depression.

Primary cause is to please the outsiders‟ eye and eventually this leads to an
addiction where they go to an edge to get a compliment they desired for. They
try so hard to please others that they even forget what would give them
pleasure. It takes a deep dive down when these are accompanied by hateful
comments and negative trolls especially through social medias.

Body-shaming feeds on one‟s person's physical as well as mental health. They

can end up with so many body issues. As teenagers, they can become self-
conscious and have self-esteem issues. Mentally it may make the person feel
ashamed and like there is something wrong with them.

On the surface it just concerns shaming on basis of height, size, skin colour etc.
but can also extent to shaming of hairiness, of hair-colour, of facial features and
in its broadest sense may even include shaming of tattoos and piercings or
diseases that leave a physical mark such as psoriasis.
 TYPES OF BODY SHAMING
Body shaming isn‟t just confined to fat shaming or thinness. It is always
misunderstood and the fact that normalising them brings the worse

During this quarantine, many of us have been affected differently, whether it‟s
our physical or mental well-being, and it‟s no one‟s fault. Some of us were able
to work out and others were not. However, body shaming has been present
within our society for many years now, whether it was coming from other
people or from ourselves, and it needs to stop immediately.

 Fat shaming and skinny shaming

Phrases like, “You‟re really pretty for a full-sized girl,” which clearly manifests
a false notion that more voluptuous girls should not pretty,‟did you lose some
weight? You definitely look so much better.” These phrases put false emphasis
on how beauty is affected by weight. Beauty should be a manifestation of one‟s
personality and intellect rather than one‟s physical appearance.

Skinny shaming is another type of body shaming that can affect people just as
negatively. Phrases like, “You should eat more” and, “Those look like chicken
legs.These phrases like these bring down people who might be suffering from
eating disorders or other mental issues,

 Body hair shaming

Young South Asians say their elementary and middle school years were
characterized by a dominating feature: hair- Bushy unibrows, thick leg hair,
upper lip fuzz and coarse locks made them feel different and ugly .White
society set the standard that their body hair and face hair wasn't beautiful

 Height shaming

Height discrimination (also known as heightism) is prejudice or discrimination

against individuals based on height. In principle, it refers to the discriminatory
treatment against individuals whose height is not within the normal acceptable
range of height in a population. It‟s often done as a way of asserting superiority
on the basis of height. Essentially, it‟s a form of bullying.
  Shaming for skin colour

Discrimination based on skin colour, also known as colourism, or shadeism, is a

form of prejudice and/or discrimination in which people who share
similar ethnicity traits or perceived race are treated differently based on the
social implications that come with the cultural meanings that are attached
to skin colour.

Research has found extensive evidence of discrimination based on skin colour

in criminal justice, business, the economy, housing, health care, media,
and politics in the United States and Europe. Lighter skin tones are seen as
preferable in many countries in Africa, Asia and South America.

 Shaming of looks

Body shaming is the act of deriding or mocking a person‟s physical appearance.

Sometimes body shaming can extend to a perception that one does not
sufficiently display masculinity or femininity. For example, men with wide hips
or prominent breasts or lack of facial hair are sometimes shamed for appearing
feminine
FAMOUS INSTAGRAM INFLUENCERS AND BOLLYWOOD
ACTORS WHO STOOD AGAINST BODY SHAMING
Fashion models wholeheartedly admit that they had to undergo many changes
physically in order to survive in the industry .This includes losing their weight
to achieve the required waist, thigh, neck measurements

Many of the film stars especially Bollywood actresses have strongly

opinionated against body shaming

 VIDYA BALAN
Actor Vidya Balan revealed in an interview that there was a time when she used
to „hate‟ her body and her weight had become a „national issue‟. However she
overcame these insecurities over time .She further said that she is no longer
bothered about what people say about your body because it does not matter. She
added that there were days when she was under pressure of looking the best
and she would be angry and frustrated

She says “It was important for me to have gone through what I did. It was very
public and at that time it was insurmountable. I come from a non-filmy family .
There was no one to tell me that these phases of life will not last long. My
weight issue had become a national issue. I have always been a fat girl ; I would
not say that I am at a stage where my fluctuating weight does not bother me at
all .But I have come a long way. I have had hormonal issues all my life. For the
longest time, I hated my body. I thought it had betrayed me.”

 PRIYANKA CHOPRA
The renown Miss world Priyanka Chopra once been body-shamed by a film
producer who apparently dismissed her nose and figure as 'disproportionate.'
Priyanka also said she hasn't modified her nose surgically.

She said that being scrutinized and criticised for the way she looks doesn't
bother her. "There's such a false perception of what women should look like and
what our body should look like, especially when we are in the business.
  SAKSHI SINDWANI

In a world obsessed with the idea of women being a size zero, fitting into the
tiniest of clothes, looking a certain way and meeting the set standards of
beauty–plus-sized women making a mark of their own. They are bringing „the
bigger, the better‟ notion into vogue and create. Plus-sized model, blogger and
body-positive content creator Sakshi Sindwani is a part of this movement and
has managed to make it past the judgements and criticism. And on the way, she
has inspired many others to do the same thing a wave of social acceptance.

 SELENA GOMEZ
The famous artist Selena Gomez was once commented on her scars from a
kidney transplantation. She accurately responded to that by posting the quote
“The beauty myth: an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern
woman in an endless cycle of hopelessness, self-consciousness, and self-hatred
as she tries to fulfill society‟s impossible definition of flawless beauty. She said
“I chose to take care of myself because I want to, not to prove anything to
anyone. Wind in her sails”
 ADS AND CAMPAIGNS

 DOVE‟S NEW CAMPAIGN :- HAR BODY KO PYAAR KA HAQ

In the new campaign Dove has taken a step forward and embraced body body
positivity and self-love.

“Har Body Ko Pyaar Ka Haq”, the campaign‟s 30-second ad tells us the story of
Diksha, a content creator who faced social media bullying because of her body
weight.

 BIBA

BIBA girls- the dedicated range catering to young girls aged between 2-15 years
–has launched a thought provoking campaign digital campaign
#ChangeTheQuestion –with the help of beautiful short film which talks about
body shaming

They have also released many other short films to bring forward a positive
outlook of the society in issues like dowry system, child marriage

 GILLETE VENUS

Gillette Venus is putting a stake in the ground, too, with its #MySkinMyWay
campaign, featured on its socials, including its Twitter (“No retouching. No
restrictions. No one way to have beautiful skin or to show it off. Venus stands
with all women who right the rules.
 LISTING SUPPORTIVE NGOs
Reports show that they are insufficient number of NGOs which stand against
body shaming .This is due to lack of incentive provided and lack of
maintenance. Even though these are insufficient the existing ones have always
been a safe place to express their views

 AASHRAY: headquartered in Punjab

Aashray is run by the young blood with the vision to help people, feed them,
and provide them with the basic amenities. Aashray has also been working
rigorously to break the social taboos associated with menstruation, body
shaming, skin colour, etc.

 National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA)

This organisation has stepped up to fight against body shaming on social media
and encourages individuals who witness body shaming to notify this
organization through Media Watchdog program.

 ANAD

The ANAD organisation had set an remarkable journey by creating awareness

and providing support through ANAD Week Guide for body positivity
programming.
 ARE PAGEANT COMPETITIONS YET ANOTHER
PLATFORM FOR BODY SHAMING?
-------------------------------------------A DEBATE--------------------------------------

The standards that are being adhered in pageant competitions like miss world,
questions the concept of beauty It resembles materialistic beauty rather than
inner beauty

The organisers have been boasting themselves for creating a globalised event to
transcend the economical social and geographical barriers .But it is always an
open secret that pageant competitions conceptualised a stage for the fashion
industries to ramble upon. The main idea of bringing up the womanhood has
lost its status

However this does not contradict with the fact that women have the right to
commodify their body as a symbol of boldness, if that is what they want

But on a positive note women form all over the universe are able to share the
stage irrespective of their colour, race .These opportunities have raised many
women's will to stand on their own and have a place to be heard

The worst case scenario is that teenagers tend to compare themselves to these
standards such as the myth of ideal body type:zero size ,fairness, facial beauty
etc have shown an increase in cases registered under

 anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa

 plastic surgery addiction

These all conceals the fact that everyone is special on their own way and beauty
lies within the eyes of the beholder

Love yourself!
METHODOLOGY
This study was made with the help of questionnaire to know how a person
would react when they see a person being body shamed and approach them. We
gave emphasis on understanding the behaviour of society rather than
empathising those who are caged due to body shaming. It is observed that a
person‟s progress in overcoming body shaming depends upon the outlook of
society can cover come body shaming

This study was classified on the basis of age category ranging from 15-40 .The
objectives of choosing this category is because teenagers seemed to be
influenced by the social media and even a small criticise would hurt another
person‟s feelings.

The questionnaire was shared through google forms and a conclusion has been
drawn from 29 responses

RESULTS
These are some of the observations that we came up with

All the participants agreed the fact that there is a need create awareness about
the rise of issue of body shaming. They have been acquainted with this through
ads in social medias, television etc.

About 41 % of responses have shown that they have come across some one who
has been to deep end due to been body shamed

To know about the possible causes of body shaming a question was asked and
the responses were interesting.

 They believe that due to their lifestyle changes and living in a judgmental
society made them think that there were not attractive in a way that
society listed it to be
 Another response was –body shaming was highly normalised these days
and even indirectly promoted through ads and social media
 Family and peer pressures
 REFLECTIONS

APARNA NAIR

Body shaming is easily one of the most

stressful and agonising things a person
can undergo in today’s society. Being
shamed for having grey hair, hormone
induced weight, a limp or a squint eye. The
degree of abuse could increase if resisted.
Away from the safe confines of one’s
house, body shaming could easily
devastate a person’s psyche.
The project was for me an eye opener. It
led to me to a path less traversed. I was
comfortable in the thought that all was well
with a person who was a bit short, or a little
fat or limped a bit. It was disturbing for me
to observe that for no apparent reason,
people are body shamed. Such sadistic
pleasure is very prevalent through the
social media.
My study has made me conscious about
the need to have a legislation against body
shaming. Though there are a few
provisions in the Indian Penal Code for
humiliating women, body shaming is not
confined to women. Men are also at the
receiving end. More study is required on
the issue to find a lasting solution.
The majority responses on how would they console a person who have open up
to them about being body shamed was encourage her to embrace her flaws and
he/she is beautiful for whom he/she is

Through our study we came to know that body positivity campaigns and ads
have not served its purpose dutifully due to

Some of the beauty myths that added the seriousness of issue of body shaming
were (ordered according to the votes) non hairy skin, flawless skin , zero size
etc

It is an open secret that social media is only for perfect beauty and the standards
set by the social medias itself. The participants strongly believe that when they
see someone being body shamed in social medias they report it and flag it for
inappropriate content
 SUGGESTIONS/MEASURES TO DEAL THE
PROBLEM
--------------------------GROUP DISCUSSION------------------------
This is a collective representation of rational solutions we believe in.

 Don't criticize anyone else's weight or appearance

 Stop hiding. Life is too short to live in the shadows
 The society does not have the right to set the standards to be pretty, you
have. Be pretty just the way you are
 Don‟t be sensitive to social medias. Ignore all the hate comments
 As long as you are healthy ,love the life you live
 Be thankful for your good health. Be grateful for what you have, not what
you‟re missing.
 Explore the hobbies that makes you happy
 Get to know your body ,appreciate your flaws through self-introspection
 Therapies won‟t work unless you don‟t believe on yourself.
 Befriend with someone who appreciate you rather than criticising you
 Seek out help from professionals or those who overcame body shaming
and this would help in the gradual recovery
 Don‟t encourage hate commenting and if you witness body shaming on
social media you can report it and flag it for inappropriate content
 As an adult do not talk negatively about your own body in front of your
child.
 as a friend appreciate his/her beauty and don‟t be toxic around her
because even a small comment from loving ones can affect them
 educate the youth at an early stage to change their vision about being
pretty
 LIMITATIONS

 The pandemic left us limited approaches to reach out to people and we

always prescribed a heart to heart conversations
 Group discussion were conducted via online
 The responses were not accurate and summing up was almost impractical.

CONCLUSION
As a group we were enlightened in many ways. This made us realise that issue
of body shaming is so insignificant that many people even ignored being body
shamed. From the start we jointly came up with the topic of body shaming and
also summed up the contents to be published .Last but not the least, this would
not be possible if the whole team wouldn‟t come together. This project has
enlightened the members that the issue becomes worse when it gets normalised.
This issue can only be solved when every person comes together and stands
against the issue of body shaming. We are grateful for this opportunity to get to
know better about the graveness of this issue
 INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION

Akhila k
I was in charge of assigning and organising duties to the group members. A
fruitful research regarding the understanding body shaming in depth. It made
me realise 6 out of every 10 have experienced body shaming but what makes
them different is the way they overcame it. Learning from the experiences of
others made me empowered and fuelled my will to be there as an emotional
support and to make them understand that love yourself and beauty lies within
the eyes of the beholder .I was able to come up with the possible solutions to
tackle the situation such as peer awareness, body positivity sessions .
 EVIDENCES
GOOGLE FORM MADE FOR COLLECTING RESPONSES FROM CANDIDATES
DOC FILE FOR OPEN DEBATE
 STUDENT PLANNING SHEET
Goal To learn more about the topic of Body Shaming and how it affects people

objectives Who? Akhila, Aparna, Balabhaskar, Devadathan and Eirene

What? To investigate the various aspects of body shaming

Where? Across zoom / through whatsapp groups

When? 25 Sept 2021 to 16 Jan 2022

Why? To comprehend the challenges that people suffer as a result of

body shaming

How? We will conduct a survey to better understand people's

perspectives on body shaming, then gather personal experiences
from people who have been subjected to body shaming and solicit
their thoughts and opinions.

Tasks: Time

Start: 25 Sept 2021 8:07 AM

The following are the subcategories that we divided the topic into:-

1. Spreading awareness regarding the different phrases of body shaming.

2. Famous ads and self-love campaigns.

3. Listing supportive NGO's.

4. Famous personalities including Instagram influencers, Bollywood actors sharing

their experiences on body shaming and how they overcame it.

5. Are pageant competitions yet another platform for body shaming?:a debate

Finish: 30 Jan 2022 7.30 PM

Team:

1 Akhila K

2 Aparna Nair

3 Balabhaskar Unnikrishnan

4 Devadathan S

5 Eirene S John

Tools:

Equipment: Laptop, Desktop, Mobile Phone, Tablet

Materials: Encyclopaedia, Magazines

Information: Google, Vogue

Resources: Google
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/priyanka-chopra-reveals-she-was-once-body-shamed-
about-disproportionate-nose-1658181

https://sadsindia.org/ngo/aashray-ngo/

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/features/study-94-of-teenage-girls-have-been-
body-shamed/436143277

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_based_on_skin_color

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/it-was-the-1970-protest-against-the-
miss-world-pageant-that-spotlighted-the-term-womens-liberation