30% of French people have already been victims

Lena Dunhman, Amy Schumer, Lili Reinhart, Chrissy Teigen or even Vaimalama Chavez … If more and more celebrities and brands advocate body-positive and self-acceptance so that everyone can be at peace with their body, body-shaming is still very present in Europe and especially in France. In August 2019, the polling institute YouGov unveiled the results of an investigation into this matter. While some stars in France, the United States and elsewhere advocate a liberating positive body attitude, can we really see real progress on the subject?

Body shaming and fat shaming in the family and / or at the workplace

For now, the finding is quite worrying since 30% of French people have already been the victims of mockery about their physique, whether in relation to their weight or their appearance in general. The 18-24 year olds seem to be the most affected by this phenomenon since more than 55% of them have been victims of body-shaming. According to the survey, work colleagues are the ones who allow themselves the most derogatory comments towards those whom they encounter: 45%, they do not hesitate to openly criticize employees. 25% of these comments would also come from friends and 19% from family members.

The French, body positive … but still complexed

According to the results, 26% of Europeans have been teased on their bodies. It would seem, however, that the body-positive is starting to take hold in France. Almost half of French people thus adhere to the movement and fully accept their physique. However, it seems that there is still a lot of progress to be made since in the rest of Europe, body-positive is even more widespread than in France. The Spaniards and Italians are the great champions since they adopt body-positive at 79%, followed by the Germans and Norwegians.

It seems that the French are particularly self-conscious about their weight, because they are victims of fat shaming. Many say they are ready to take up sport to refine their silhouette, but also to radically change their diet in order to opt for a healthier lifestyle. 18% of the inhabitants of the Hexagon also admit to wanting an abdominoplasty, this cosmetic surgery of the belly which makes it possible to become thinner. However, the French are not the only ones who want to change their appearance since the vast majority of Europeans would like to change their appearance.

The stars, the voice of the body positive movement, but also victims of body shaming

Many celebrities have brought in recent years an innovative look at bodies in all their diversity. Social networks, especially Instagram, also help to contribute to this fight against the dictates of beauty, in parallel with the dissemination of (very) standardized bodies. American actress Amy Schumer, who likes to stage herself on the web, is a perfect example. On Instagram, we see the actress and comedian in the most natural way: in pajamas, waking up, pregnant up to the neck then mother exhausted, surrounded, but so fulfilled. His roles in the movies Crazy Amy and I feel pretty also promote a strong body positive message. And that’s without counting her one woman shows available on Netflix. This freedom to show herself as she is and without artifice often attracts the wrath of her detractors … Unjustly considered vulgar, she is even, at times, a victim of slutshaming.

Sadly, Amy Schumer is not an isolated case. Among the stars victims of body shaming, we also count the 19-year-old singer Billie Eilish. In March 2020, the pop star was pictured in the streets of Los Angeles dressed in tight clothes, in this case, in jogging and tank top. Many haters then attacked her on her physique. Already a victim of body shaming in the past, she responded to these new attacks on her weight by reposting a TikTok video of Chizi Duru. The influencer explains that it is necessary to “normalize the body”, because “to have a stomach is normal.”

We also remember Lena Duhman, creator of the Girls series, confronted with haters on social networks. So much so, that in 2015, she had, for a time, withdrawn from Twitter. And others were victims of body shaming long before the age of social media. The actress Kate winslet has often testified to the pressure placed on her and her body as she debuted in Hollywood. Today, more than twenty years after the release of the film Titanic, if she is considered one of the most body positive and decomplexing stars of the planet people, her young colleagues still suffer from a body shaming of nameless violence. . So, is 21st century society really more open to the diversity of bodies?

In reality, there is freedom of speech regarding body shaming. More and more personalities are accepting their bodies as they are and we can only salute them for that. But it is clear that the violence of social networks only increases the beauty dictates against which we try, as best we can, to fight.

Melanie Bonvard

Mélanie deciphers pop culture from a societal angle and questions the female gaze in films or even series, because everything is a question of gaze, she …