Why we feel self-conscious in clothes and yank our shirt
Have you ever caught yourself doing the shirt yank?
You know, that quick tug of fabric over your belly when you feel it clinging just a little too much to your skin? It’s something so many of us do without even thinking.
But why?
It’s because we’ve been taught that any part of our body that isn’t perfectly flat or toned is something to be hidden. A roll of flesh showing through a shirt has been made out to be a flaw, something to be ashamed of.
We’ve been trained to believe that only slim, toned bodies are acceptable, and anything else needs to be “fixed” or “improved.”
This is body shame in action.
When we pull at our clothes to hide our natural form, we’re responding to a deep, cultural indoctrination that tells us our bodies are faulty.
We absorb the message that our softness, our curves, our rolls are signs that something is wrong with us—that we’re not enough as we are.
This is where the self-consciousness comes from, walking with us every day, subtly reminding us that our bodies don’t meet some impossible standard. And from this shame, self-hate often follows.
But let’s stop for a moment and consider the truth: there is no wrong body. Your body is not something to hide, fix, or criticize. It is a gift—your vessel for living, breathing, and experiencing life. Every body, in its natural, human form, deserves love and care, not contempt. No one should feel like their body is shameful.
What would it feel like to let go of that self-consciousness, just for a moment? To embrace your body exactly as it is, without the shame or the urge to hide?
I’d love to hear your thoughts—have you noticed how body-shame shows up for you? And what would change if you began to see your body as a gift, rather than something to fix?The Shirt Yank: Why Do We Do It?
Nina Manolson, MA, is the founder of Body-Peace®.She helps women end the war with food and body and finally feel truly at home in their body—as it is.
She is known for her deeply feminist, anti-diet, body-peace® approach. She brings her 30 years of experience as a therapist, Body-Trust® Guide and Psychology of Eating Teacher to helping women create a respectful and trusting relationship with their food and body.
Nina’s Body-Peace® work is all in service of helping people get off the diet roller-coaster, and into a compassionate and powerful way of eating & living which creates a positive long-lasting change in and with their bodies. Her courses, coaching, poems and Body-Peace APP positively change the conversation that women are having with their body.
Start your Body-Peace® journey with this free masterclass that will help you understand and shift your relationship with your body.
