Consequential Ethical Analysis: Body Shaming in Media and Advertising

This essay provides a consequential ethical analysis of body shaming in media and advertising. It examines the ethical implications of body shaming, focusing on three key virtues: respect, kindness, and love. The paper explores relevant laws, particularly the right to dignity, and analyzes the morality of body shaming through Kant's ethical framework, including the Categorical Imperative and the golden rule. The analysis contrasts Kantian ethics with Utilitarianism, exploring how these theories apply to body shaming and decision-making. The essay concludes by arguing for the validity of Utilitarianism in the context of body shaming, emphasizing the role of emotions in moral decision-making. The paper references several scholarly articles to support its arguments.

Running head: CONSEQUENTIAL ETHICAL ANALYSIS
Consequential ethical analysis
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CONSEQUENTIAL ETHICAL ANALYSIS 1
Table of Contents
Assignment 2..............................................................................................................................2
(a)...............................................................................................................................................2
(b)...............................................................................................................................................2
(c)...............................................................................................................................................2
(d)...............................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

CONSEQUENTIAL ETHICAL ANALYSIS 2
Assignment 2
Body shaming in media and advertisement-is it ethical?
a)
The 3 most important virtues related to body shaming in social media re:
Lack of respect- People who body shames in the media does not give the minimum
respect to the person in the target.
Lack of kindness- People who insult and fat shames others in the media and
advertisements shows the lack of kindness towards the targeted group
Lack of love- There exists no love and affection in the act of body shaming, often it
has been found that people get body shamed from people near to them which is the
result of lack of love.
b)
There lie various laws and acts in the context of body shaming in the media platform.
Right to dignity is one of the major acts against this shameless practice. The morality
of the act lies on the factor that each and every individual in the world has the virtue
of equal rights and privileges towards living their life in dignity and with respect
(Caracciolo 2015). They have the right to equality and non-discrimination. In
accordance with the three virtues stated above, violation of the law that controls the
body shaming in media is the result of the lack of respect towards an individual.
Besides people show the lack of kindness and love towards their near ones who are
the victims of body shaming.
c)
i)
One of the specific rules that authorize the right to dignity of each and every
individual in the context of body shaming in media and the advertisement
platform is the formula of humanity (Gaffney 2017). The second formulation

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of the Categorical Imperative by Kant explains that every rational action must
plan its principle beforehand (Wood 2017). The rule states that an individual
has a perfect duty not to utilize the humanity of them or as a means to some
other end.
ii)
The general rule that authorizes the act of body shaming in the media in the
context of the right to dignity and non-discrimination includes the prohibition
of certain types of actions. The theory by Kant’s is an example of the moral
theory that is deontological (Bowen and Prescott 2015). According to the
general rule of this theory, the rightness and wrongness or the nature of any
act or action are not dependent on their results or consequences that is yet to
come. They are dependent on their rate of the fulfilment of the targets.
iii)
The general rule of the theory of Kant’s is truly self-contradictory. This is
because the general rule of the theory challenges the moral worth of the
persons. It challenges and questions the basic ides one has while insulting and
body shaming an individual in the social media platform (Cheung 2014). The
basic idea according to the theories states how the tendency of contradictions
and guilt lies in the mind of a body shamer when he or she insults or shames a
large person in the online social platform.
iv)
Yes, the general rule violates the other absolute moral rules stated in the
Kant’s practical imperative theory. The rule, also termed as the golden rule
states that it is not ethical to impose any ones wish on others for the benefit of
self in the negative forms ( Oneal and Russett 2015). In case of positive forms,
the rule states that one should treat others us the way one wants them to be
treated. This rule violates the concept of the basic rule of the theory since
Kant’s practical imperative is an asset of basic fundamental ideas that states
that one should act towards others in such a way that one ’s all others to act

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towards the others. This constitutes the basic universal law.
v)
Yes, the general rule that is stated in the Kant’s theory is contrary to the
fundamental purpose of the categorical imperative theory. This is because
Kant explained human beings as a self conscious and rational being that are
constituted with impure choice of freedom (Kant 2017).
vi)
Yes, the theory and the law surrounding the concept of body shaming are
ethical in accordance to the ethical system as proposed by Kant. This is
because Kant’s construction of moral law is the categorical imperative.
Furthermore, it acts on all individual despite of their interest, desires, body
shapes and moral values and is applicable to all situations without any hurdles
and discrimination towards any individual that can hurt their moral values.
Kant’s ethical theory totally follows the right to dignity and right to a happy
and respectful life and satisfies the ethical norms of respecting, loving and
showing kindness to each and every people in the social media and
advertisement platform who are the victims of body shaming ( Oneal and
Russett 2015).
d)
Both the Kant’s theory and the Utilitarianism explain the moral structure that is
helpful to generate moral decisions. Act utilitarianism explains that moral situations
should be made upon the probable outcomes. It further states that any action that is
helpful, useful and beneficial for a large number of people can be considered
ethically correct. Kantian analysis, on the other hand, is entirely based upon the duty
or intention (Bowen and Prescott 2015).According to the theory by Kant, there is no
place for emotions while implying any action and that individuals do not need to
think about the consequences of any action before implying or acting it. Besides this,
Kant's theory focuses on the concept that the non-moral commands and the

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hypothetical imperatives are useless norms that should not be considered while doing
any act (Habermas 2018).
A personal ethical conscience towards the comparison of the act utilitarian analysis,
virtue of ethics and Kantian analysis states that the consequentialist theory of
Utilitarianism is far more valid in the context of body shaming in media and
advertisements. This is because the theory identifies the importance of emotion and
states that emotions play a big role in the process of decision making of morality and
sensitivity like body shaming.

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References
Bowen, S.A. and Prescott, P., 2015. Kant’s contribution to the ethics of
communication. Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, 12,
pp.38-44.
Caracciolo, A., 2015. Right to Dignity in Contemporary New Humanism. In Managing
Intellectual Capital and Innovation for Sustainable and Inclusive Society: Managing
Intellectual Capital and Innovation; Proceedings of the MakeLearn and TIIM Joint
International Conference 2015 (pp. 1955-1960). ToKnowPress.
Cheung, A.S., 2014. Revisiting privacy and dignity: online shaming in the global e-
village. Laws, 3(2), pp.301-326.
Gaffney, K.J., 2017. Negative affects that Social Media causes on Body Imaging.
Habermas, J., 2018. Inclusion of the other: Studies in political theory. John Wiley & Sons.
Kant, I., 2017. Kant: The metaphysics of morals. Cambridge University Press.
Oneal, J.R. and Russett, B.M., 2015. The Kantian peace: The pacific benefits of democracy,
interdependence, and international organizations, 1885–1992. In Bruce M. Russett: Pioneer
in the Scientific and Normative Study of War, Peace, and Policy (pp. 74-108). Springer,
Cham.
Wood, A., 2017. The final form of Kant’s practical philosophy. In Immanuel Kant (pp. 27-
47). Routledge.

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