By themediahives 
Article By Vagmi Joshi
A Theatre Intervention by MDC Students against Body Shaming
Body shaming has emerged as one of the most pervasive yet underestimated forms of social violence in contemporary India and across the world. In an age shaped by social media algorithms, celebrity-driven beauty standards, and constant public scrutiny, the human body has become a site of judgment, comparison, and control. Remarks on skin tone, body weight, height, facial features, hair, disability, or physical fitness are often normalized as jokes, advice, or concern, while their psychological impact remains largely invisible. For adolescents and young adults, this repeated exposure frequently results in low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and in extreme cases, suicide. As a student of the Masters of Development Communication (MDC) program at the Centre for Development Communication, Department of Communication and Journalism, Gujarat University, my academic journey has emphasized understanding such social issues not only through theories and data, but also through participatory and alternative communication methods. This philosophy found powerful expression during a theatre workshop organized by the department, which explored theatre as a tool for social change and stigma reduction. The workshop culminated in a one-act play on Body Shaming, rooted in national and global research, real-life Indian case studies, and the deeply personal experiences of MDC students themselves. What began as a pedagogical exercise evolved into an emotionally transformative process that ultimately led our performance to the stage of a state-level youth festival, reaffirming the relevance of theatre within development communication practice.
Recent research from India and across the globe clearly establishes body shaming as a widespread phenomenon with serious mental health implications, particularly among adolescents and young adults. A 2020 study conducted in Lucknow among 800 school-going adolescents revealed that 44.9% had experienced body shaming at least once in the previous year, a figure significantly higher than the global average of 25–35% reported in international studies. Interestingly, the prevalence was highest among boys studying in co-educational schools, challenging the commonly held assumption that body shaming primarily affects girls. At the college level, the problem appears even more acute. A 2022 study in Kerala reported that 67.9% of college students had experienced body shaming, with more than half stating that such remarks occurred daily and directly contributed to anxiety related to public appearance and social participation. Similarly, research from Tamil Nadu (2023) showed that 73% of adolescents experienced body shaming from friends, followed by siblings, indicating that ridicule often originates from close social relationships rather than strangers alone. Globally, the data is equally concerning. Studies indicate that body dissatisfaction affects 35–81% of girls and 16–55% of boys in developed countries, with adolescence being a particularly vulnerable phase. One international survey found that 56% of adults had received negative comments about their bodies at some point in their lives. A 2024 study in Indonesia among junior high school students reported that 73% were body shamed for clothing choices and 67% through physical comparisons, with a statistically significant correlation between body shaming and stress levels. In India, mental health research further strengthens these findings. A January 2026 AIIMS–ICMR study involving 1,071 young adults aged 18–30 found that 49% of obese and 47% of underweight participants experienced significant body image distress, now recognized as a major mental health concern. Earlier studies have linked body image dissatisfaction with depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and risky health behaviours, particularly among adolescents.
Beyond statistics, body shaming in India has led to tragic outcomes. In April 2025, a 17-year-old Class 12 student in Chennai died by suicide after relentless body shaming by peers over his appearance, despite repeated complaints to school authorities. In 2024, Shivani Tyagi, a 27-year-old banker from Uttar Pradesh, died by suicide after enduring prolonged workplace body shaming, naming five colleagues in her suicide note. At the same time, highly visible cases like that of Prachi Nigam, the 2024 UP Board topper who was trolled online for facial hair, highlight how even academic excellence cannot shield individuals from appearance-based harassment. Together, these studies and cases reveal body shaming as not merely a social nuisance, but a structural problem deeply intertwined with mental health, institutional neglect, and cultural beauty norms.
It was against this backdrop of data, distress, and lived realities that the theatre workshop organized by the Centre for Development Communication acquired its deepest meaning. Mentored by Maulikraj Shrimali and Amit Thakkar, the workshop was designed not simply to teach acting skills, but to demonstrate how theatre can operate as a participatory communication tool capable of addressing social stigma. From the very first session, the focus was placed on the body—not as an object to be judged, but as a medium of expression, memory, and resistance. Through carefully structured theatre exercises and games, students were encouraged to shed self-consciousness, build trust, and reconnect with their physical presence. These exercises revealed how deeply social conditioning around ‘acceptable’ bodies is internalized, often shaping posture, movement, and voice.
A central theoretical foundation of the workshop was Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, which positions theatre as a rehearsal for real life and challenges the passive role of audiences. Techniques such as Image Theatre enabled us to create frozen bodily images representing moments of ridicule, exclusion, cyber bullying, and internalized shame. These images were then collectively analysed and transformed, allowing us to imagine alternative responses based on solidarity, intervention, and empowerment. Through this process, body shaming emerged not as an individual problem but as a form of social oppression sustained by families, schools, workplaces, media narratives, and digital platforms. Another crucial learning came through Ena Deviya’s Smith Technique, which emphasizes emotional authenticity and inner truth. Rather than performing imagined suffering, students were encouraged to draw from their own experiences—comments about skin colour from relatives, jokes about weight in classrooms, comparisons on social media, or subtle workplace remarks disguised as concern. This process was emotionally intense and, at times, uncomfortable, but it created a space of shared vulnerability and empathy. Personal pain, when voiced on stage, transformed into collective testimony. As development communication students, we began to understand how storytelling rooted in lived experience can challenge silence and normalize conversations around stigma and mental health.
The one-act play on Body Shaming was developed collaboratively through improvisation, discussion, and reflection. Research data and documented Indian cases of suicide and harassment were woven into the script alongside student’s personal narratives. Scenes depicted school bullying, workplace humiliation, online trolling, and the gradual psychological erosion that results from repeated shaming. The performance deliberately avoided elaborate sets or costumes, relying instead on physical expression, silence, and minimal dialogue to foreground the message. The research findings were subtly integrated into monologues and transitions, ensuring that the performance remained evidence-based while emotionally resonant. The impact of the performance was immediate and profound. Audience members responded with silence, tears, and intense post-performance discussions. Many acknowledged their own unconscious participation in body shaming through language, jokes, or social media behaviour. The play’s selection for a national-level youth festival further validated the approach, demonstrating that socially engaged theatre rooted in research and lived experience has relevance far beyond the classroom. For me as a MDC student, the workshop redefined communication not as transmission of messages, but as a process of shared meaning-making and transformation.
The theatre workshop on body shaming stands as one of the most defining experiences of my Masters of Development Communication journey. It demonstrated that development communication is not limited to reports, campaigns, or policies, but can also be embodied through performance, emotion, and collective reflection. By merging academic research, national and global data, real-life case studies, and personal narratives, the workshop transformed abstract statistics into human stories and theatre into an act of social resistance. The experience reaffirmed my belief that theatre, when grounded in ethical intent and social reality, can challenge stigma, foster empathy, and open spaces for dialogue. In doing so, it reminds us that meaningful social change often begins not with grand policies, but with honest stories courageously told on stage. “Alag alag sundarta sab mein, Sundarta sabki nirali.”
Name: Vagmi Joshi
Department of Communication & Journalism, Gujarat University
Data Sources:
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