Have you ever stopped thinking when you were told about the shape, size or your body? No? Right, that painful thought irks your mind especially when the whole world has some valuable suggestion over how to lose weight.
But all the thoughts will remain within you. You might be afraid to share it with anyone. You might be ashamed to open up about it in public.
Also read: Body shaming! Thin models promoting plus-size tights for e-commerce website spark outrage
But your silence will give more power to the shamers, assaulters. Sharing experiences is really needful and empowering.
For this, artist Suzie Blake has taken an innovative initiative for all the victims of body-shaming, sexual harassment, rape so that they can speak out. She has created the Wall of Shamed which is to inspire the women to share their stories of shame. It has a photo of Suzie as a pregnant teenager along with a satchel of pens.
Suzie was once shamed and bullied by society for being pregnant at her teenage. She was asked to hide away, abort her child and other awful suggestions.
"I started thinking about the shame that is piled onto teenage girls who get pregnant, and how it's impossible for guys to experience this same kind of shame," Suzie told Metro.o.uk.
"The irony is that everyone's doing it, but it's the girls who cop all the flak for getting pregnant. I also started thinking about my own experiences of being shamed and how traumatizing certain comments people made to me were."
Suzie's art installation is getting filled with so many stories; most of it is disappointing and related to some kind of sexual harassment and objectification.
"I think women are shamed for very different reasons to men, and usually the shaming of women relates to their bodies," Suzie said.
Suzie hopes that one day the Wall of Shamed will encourage more and more women to share their stories and give "a sense of catharsis by providing a space where they can express their stories and their anger."
"We need to stop reducing women and girls to objects and treat women and girls as people," says Suzie.
"I hope women and girls will feel a sense of release in the act of sharing. I hope women and girls will feel a sense of solidarity and community in knowing other women share similar experiences to them."
She further added, "I hope all people will appreciate how shaming others is deeply problematic for our community, and try to always be considerate and mindful. Basically, be nice."
The Wall of Shamed is currently on display in Melbourne, Australia at the Victorian College of the Arts Masters Graduate Exhibition.
If anyone would like to contribute to the art installation, you can share a photo of your written story, a picture, or an illustration on Instagram with the hashtag #WallOfShamed.
