We have often heard of Body Shaming, i.e. insulting people for their external appearance, now the target has also moved to the skin, hence the expression
Skin Shaming
, specifically aimed at judging skin problems.
Observed for the first time a few years ago in the United States, today it is also framed by the data of the research "Dove Body Love 2023" (out of 1,200 web users between 20 and 50 years old) in which it emerged that over 6 out of 10 (62% ) have been targeted on social media or in everyday life due to skin-related issues or blemishes.
On the web, mainly on social networks, through the action of the so-called haters, the skin is targeted, especially of women and young people, with comments, posts, stories and private messages.
Skin blemishes are very common and affect millions of people, potentially increasingly exposed to online criticism: from acne to redness, from scars to blemishes.
It happened for example to
Aurora Ramazzotti
(now a new mother) struggling with acne.
"I learned to trust, to appreciate the path (turbulent, sometimes incomprehensible) to love my skin and not want to hide it even when I was struggling to look in the mirror. So much so that lately the mirror itself has lost its importance, I no longer fight against it , and when I come across it I don't feel like celebrating the results obtained because I understand that the skin speaks to us and must be treated, in the true sense of the word, with perseverance, delicacy and love. whether it's good or bad. You just need to know how to listen to it and accept it for what it is. And above all, even if it's difficult, never give up because one day, like me today, you'll stop to think about the route and you'll smile", he wrote in an Instagram post.
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A post shared by Aurora Ramazzotti (@therealauroragram)
On the other hand, the data relating to the relationship of Italian web users with their own image is more positive: almost 6 out of 10 in fact feel overall satisfied with their external appearance (58%), with a judgment that leans more towards "enough" (35%) than to "very" (23%), while the dissatisfied are the minority (42%) with feedback attributable to "little" (27%) and "not at all" (15%).
With a view to considering the topic of Skin Shaming in a concrete way, self-care as an antidote of well-being to criticism and offenses on social media turns out to be the key to triggering a virtuous process.
According to Dr. Stefania Andreoli, psychotherapist and president of the Alice ETS Association: “Those who take care of their appearance do it mainly for themselves and to feel good.
Indeed,
indulging in treatments aimed at the body and skin is a gesture that in itself is caring,
even before its result.
Taking care of yourself produces feelings of well-being which, investigated more deeply, refer to a real beauty secret suggested by the survey participants: for 59% of respondents, listening to themselves, isolating themselves from the background noise of external diktats and by responding to one's needs after having tuned in and out on the deep needs suggested by one's uniqueness, it becomes the way of choice to take care of oneself.
These data also allow us to give a positive reading of the relationship with our image.
In fact, unlike the results gathered from other research conducted post-pandemic, the news is finally the occasion for a story against the trend:
we are starting to relate to our external image in a more positive way than has emerged up to now.
In fact, 58% of the participants declared that the relationship with their own image is «very» or «fairly» positive”.
ANSA. it
The beauty of imperfection, how to enhance those unique 'defects' that sign our identity - Lifestyle
(HANDLE)
Similarly, alongside the experts, well-known personalities from the world of entertainment and social media took the field who, during the "Self-Esteem Day", underlined the value and importance of self-esteem in everyday life.
What further evidence has emerged regarding the relationship of Italian web users with beauty?
As revealed by the survey, boys between 18 and 25 years of age (59%) are mainly affected by Body Shaming, followed by the over 45s (22%) and the 33-45 age group (19%).
Women suffer the most: in fact, over 6 out of 10 (64%) feel more judged for their image, while the percentage of men drops to 36% when asked the same question.
Furthermore, more than 7 out of 10 declared that this phenomenon led them to a state of great insecurity (73%).
The ultimate goal of skin care is also eloquent: if 67% of those interviewed say they take care of their appearance to please themselves, as many as 56% admit they do it to be accepted by others.
The data relating to the sources that the interviewees follow to find useful information for body and skin care should also be underlined: 64% in fact follow advice from the web and from influencers.
Claudia Mennini, Marketing Manager of Dove affirms: "Our hope is to get as many people as possible the message that our body should be loved, without taking into consideration what haters unfortunately write on social networks or say in everyone's life what really matters is feeling good about yourself, taking care of your well-being and appreciating even your little flaws, because above all they are what make us unique and unrepeatable", remembering that the «Dove Progetto Autostima », which is active in 150 countries and has already reached over 82 million young people.
