Stop Body Shaming

 

For this particular topic, I am really struggling with where to begin so I will just simply go with the flow. Since time immemorial, my country people have always had issues with how women look and dress. Let me take you back to the time a woman was stripped naked in Blantyre town for wearing something “the streets” deemed inappropriate. The strange thing about cases like these, is the fact that most of the clothes that are seen as not fit to wear are actually sold by the same vendors that undress women. If people are not talking about how short something a woman is wearing, they are talking about how fat, slim, figureless one is. They are including in their diction words that are demeaning and inappropriate.

Fast forward to last week, there was an inaugural annual fashion show event at Bingu International Conference center (BICC) by Mabel Khonje dubbed “Boudoir” which translates to a woman’s private bedroom. The fashion show was showcasing lingerie and swim suits. To keep you up to speed the lingerie line was launched last year at Latitude 13 in Lilongwe by Khonje alias Doll Mabel. The runway was paraded by models of all shapes, sizes, height, race and skin tones. From the comments on social media during and after the show, there is a lot of body-shaming going on in the country. It is toppled by Cyber-bullying as it mostly happens on the internet.

Need I point out the recent victim of body shaming, the times television presenter. We can honestly do better.

People are so determined to bringing others down by making them feel bad about how their bodies are structured. I personally believe that we can channel the energy used in criticizing others into making them feel good. “Koma ndiye wanenepa” you have gained weight, “Uphulikatu” you are getting too fat, “Nyama ili pati apa” you are thin “Zimiyendo” you got big legs, are not greetings and must be stopped now. These unsolicited views do not benefit anyone at all. Unsolicited views about other people's bodies are unwelcome. 

We already took it to the streets, as a country if we have to go back to those streets to end body shaming, then we are retrogressing. We need to embrace everyone just the way they are, if one has nothing better to say they better just keep their subjective opinions to them self. Embrace body positivity, Stop Body Shaming!!!