In Puebla, lawmakers are pushing to officially recognize fatphobic comments and jokes targeting women’s bodies as a form of aesthetic violence. This move aims to highlight the harm caused by societal pressures on women to conform to specific beauty standards, although it stops short of criminalizing such behavior.

The proposal, introduced by Esther Martínez Romano, a deputy from the Labor Party (PT), seeks to amend the state’s Law for Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence. Specifically, it would add “aesthetic violence” as a new category under Article 10, Section VIII, which currently lists different types of violence against women.

Under this definition, aesthetic violence includes any gender-based action or omission that pressures, threatens, discriminates against, humiliates, rejects, or ridicules a woman to the point that she feels compelled to alter or hide her body. Fatphobic jokes and comments would clearly fall within this scope. The law would recognize forcing women to adhere to stereotypes, models, or beauty standards as a form of violence.

Martínez Romano emphasizes that aesthetic violence can cause both physical and psychological harm by undermining women’s dignity, self-esteem, health, and overall integrity. However, the reform does not propose penal sanctions for offenders, as it does not create a new crime within the Penal Code.

Experts across Mexico agree that fatphobic remarks constitute aesthetic violence, and Puebla’s initiative aims to bring this issue to the forefront. Such comments often target physical traits like weight, height, age, skin color, clothing, personal grooming, hair, disabilities, or general appearance.

According to the 2022 National Survey on Discrimination, physical appearance remains a significant factor in discrimination nationwide. These behaviors manifest through jokes, social demands, presentation requirements, or casual opinions, all of which can inflict psychological damage, social exclusion, discrimination, health problems, limited opportunities, and hinder women’s personal development.

By formally recognizing aesthetic violence, Puebla takes a step toward addressing the subtle yet pervasive ways women’s bodies are policed and judged—an important conversation for a society striving for inclusivity and respect for diversity.