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The fat acceptance movement -

The idea of body positivity started way back in the 1960s. It was born out of the fat acceptance movement, which aimed to draw attention to the discrimination and bias that some people suffer because of their weight.

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Equal rights for all bodies -

As well as bringing weight discrimination into the conversation about civil rights, the movement also fought for people with bigger bodies to feel lovable and find joy in themselves.

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Mainstream body positivity -

Over the decades, body positivity moved into the mainstream, and those it was originally intended for were somewhat left behind. It became a means to celebrate all sizes and all bodies. This left people with bigger bodies feeling excluded once again, as the poster women for body positivity were often medium-sized or even petite.

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The diluted version -

The movement was started by big women from non-white and queer communities, but according to thought leaders like Lizzo, these people are no longer benefiting from their own movement.

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Lizzo speaks out -

In a viral TikTok video, Lizzo called out body positive activists for praising and uplifting medium-sized girls, but forgetting about the bigger bodies the movement was made for. Women of her size are still being fat-shamed and their health is still being questioned.

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The downfalls -

Terminology is always changing, and loving your body no matter what it looks like is a positive concept, but body positivity doesn’t cover all the bases for most people. It’s unrealistic to feel positive about your body all the time, and that idea still attaches too much value to beauty.

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More pressure -

Body positive influencers seem to love themselves unconditionally and feel beautiful every single day. That’s wonderful for them, if it’s true, but most people don’t feel that way. This is yet another unrealistic goal that can leave you feeling like a failure.

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Defined by beauty - Beauty Redefined founder Lindsay Kite had this to say at her TED Talk: “Women and girls aren’t only suffering because of the unattainable ways beauty is being defined, they are suffering because they are being defined by beauty. They are bodies first and women second.”

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Where does our value lie? - Drawing attention to the fact that a wider range of shapes, sizes, and colors are beautiful is an important task, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The bigger issue at hand is that a disproportionate amount of value is placed on the appearance of our bodies. This is where body acceptance and body neutrality come in.

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Body acceptance -

Many people who no longer feel connected to the concept of body positivity are finding meaning in body acceptance. This differs from body positivity because it doesn’t require you to feel good about your body all the time.

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Non-judgmental approach -

Body acceptance involves acknowledging your feelings about your body without judgment or shame. It’s okay to have good days and bad days. You simply allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling and consider the reasons behind it.

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Focus on the internal -

In the same way that self acceptance is a journey, so is body acceptance. When you have negative feelings about yourself, it’s important to examine them and see where they’re coming from.

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Separate your feelings from outside influences -

With body acceptance, the challenge is to work through those feelings without changing anything about your body. The more you do this, the more you’ll be able to accept your body as it is and hopefully break down the outside influences that make you feel unloved or unworthy.

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Tips to get started -

Here are a few ways you can start to move towards accepting your body.

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1. Stop comparing yourself to others -

When you see someone looking great and jump straight to highlighting all the ways they look “better” than you, then that’s a moment for you to practice body acceptance. Try to become aware every time you have these negative feelings, and create a more realistic thought pattern. The aim is to separate your thoughts about yourself from your thoughts about other people.

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2. Focus on your health -

It’s important to make the distinction between your health and your appearance. Even if you don’t have the “perfect” beach bod that you’ve always dreamed of, your body is still an amazing creation that allows you to do fantastic things every single day. Think about doing things that make your body feel good or that improve your health, like going for a run to get some fresh air and get your heart rate up, instead of doing it to lose weight.

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3. Find inspiration -

One of the benefits of social media is that you can curate your feed. At the end of the day, you choose who you follow, so consider following people who look like you. Find inspiring and empowering people who represent you in terms of size, race, gender, ability, or any other criteria.

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4. Step back from social media -

If you’re finding that social media is still a place where too much attention and validation is being given to people who don’t look like you, then it’s okay to switch off. Take a break and see how it makes you feel, or just step away from it all together. It’s easy to underestimate the impact that exposure to this kind of content has on our mental health.

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5. Reject the commodification of your body -

In an ideal world, we would stop monitoring and judging our bodies from an outsider’s perspective, and focus on what they actually do for us. Acknowledge all the things your body does for you. Thank your feet for carrying you through a long day, your immune system for fighting off that cold, and your brain for allowing you to learn something new.

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Body neutrality -

A slightly more radical version of body acceptance is body neutrality. It focuses on separating your self worth from your appearance entirely, and appreciating your body as the vessel that keeps you alive and carries your heart and mind.

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Appreciating your body for what it does -

Neutralizing your opinion of your body means that you don’t need to cultivate love for it. Instead, you focus on what your body does, and how you think and feel.

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Love is not a requirement -

Body neutrality and body love aren’t mutually exclusive, but body neutrality allows you to live happily in your body even when you don’t feel love for it.

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A more inclusive perspective -

Body neutrality is more inclusive than body positivity because it lets go of the importance of beauty. The mainstream version of body positivity claims that all bodies are beautiful and that you should love yours on that basis, but it doesn’t really represent all bodies.

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Letting go - Body neutrality lifts the burden to look a certain way and feel a certain way about how you look. It can be applied to disabled bodies, trans bodies, or any other living body in existence. You do not need to factor in your appearance in order to feel good about yourself. This idea is offering huge relief to many people, particularly in a society that has quite a narrow view of what a beautiful body looks like.

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New motivations -

An example of practicing body neutrality might be exercising because you enjoy the feeling of movement, not because you want to burn calories. It might be expressed by choosing clothes that feel good, rather than for their aesthetic value. When you give someone a compliment, you can tell them they look happy, that they’re a good listener, or that they have great energy.

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Go with your intuition - To start shifting your perspective towards body neutrality, try to tune in to your body. Listen to what it wants in terms of activity and nourishment. Intuitive eating goes hand in hand with body neutrality. This means giving in to your cravings, but also eating foods that give you energy and make you feel healthy.

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Move for fun -

Try physical activities that are fun and don’t feel like a punishment! Take a hike somewhere beautiful instead of going for a run. Go to a trampoline park instead of going to the gym. Do a dance class on YouTube instead of a workout video.

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A new way of thinking -

This will take some work, but start removing body talk from your conversations. This means internally and externally. If your jeans feel tight, don’t berate yourself for gaining weight, simply focus on your comfort and choose something else to wear.

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Shift the focus -

When speaking with others, try not to comment on your own appearance or anyone else’s. If your friend is expressing dissatisfaction with their body, try to move the conversation towards how they feel rather than how they look.

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Exercise your brain for change -

When you have negative thoughts about your body, reframe them with something positive your body is doing for you. The brain is elastic and this habit will eventually change your thought patterns.

Sources: (TED) (Bustle) (The Washington Post) (Healthline) (The Healthy) 

See also: Body dysmorphic disorder and the celebrities who suffer from it

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