Body Shaming: Girl Up AC Stands for Intimidated Girls

Have you ever been called "fat" when you were just walking down the streets? Have you ever been looked at by shopkeepers as if you were not the right one to wear their clothes? Have you ever heard "we don't have your size" or "I don't think this will fit you"? Have you ever been asked "do you ever stop eating"? Have you ever been underestimated because of the size of your body? On the other extreme, have you ever heard "you look like a broom stick", "you should eat more" or "you're dead skinny"? Well, most of us have, at least once in their life, been told that they're either
not enough or too much. In Tunisia, since there is a lot of physical judgment, we have all been "body shamed" at some point.

Since Girl Up AC is a club that stands for its girls and does everything to boost their self- esteem and the way they look at themselves, two sessions were organized about the subject of "body shaming and self-image" and the girls attended in big numbers. The two sessions took place on February 3rd and March 3rd, 2018. Our writing team attended to report what took place.

Feriel Arbi, the President of the club chose to start with a brainstorming activity where she asked the girls to talk about what "body shaming" means to them. words such as "intimidation", "judgment", "fat pig", "stop eating", "fashion", "models" were mentioned by the girls.
The activity showed that all the girls have somewhere in the course of their lives been looked down upon.
Everyone came to agree about the fact that body shaming is not a phenomenon witnessed in the streets. You can also witness it at work, in the family, while you travel... Almost everywhere!

Then, the girls were then given pens and papers and were asked three questions:

What are the three things you like the most about yourslef?
What makes you happy?
What is your biggest achievement?

This is our Youth'Ink Web Developer Dhouha who is also a member of the club.

They were also asked to work on these questions in pairs or in groups of three; this allowed them to communicate, to get to know each other and to hear more about the issue of body shaming, about how others live it and about their feelings towards it.

After that, the girls took roles to come to the front and talk about themselves. This made us discover a lot about the members. There were big dreamers, hard workers and big achievers. Some of the girls were inspiring, some others found it very hard to talk in front of the public.

This session's special guest is this Chinese girl. She came to attend the club with all of her positive energy. She talked about how proud she is of our her clear skin, of her height and of her style.

The last part of the session was basically a chance for the girls to let out what they have inside. They were asked to walk confidently, to smile and to embrace the kind of beauty that they had.

The 14- year old who likes everything about herself.

Feriel: the president of the club and a girl boss.

Ameni: Our Team Writer and Web Developer just rocking it!

The session ended with the girly positive vibes and with the assertion that a girl or woman is pretty no matter how size or shape she has. The rest of the articles is pictures.