What even is body positivity? Is it wearing a crop top when you don't have a flat stomach? Is it supporting the fat acceptance movement that started in the 60s? Is it going beyond the pretty privilege?
Body positivity does not have one single definition, it means different things to different people. It's not about challenging how society views people based on their physical size and shape but also recognises that judgements are often made based on race, gender, sexuality and disability. The 'apparent' goal of it is to appreciate your body despite flaws, feel confident, love yourself promote the acceptance of all bodies and address unrealistic body standards.
It aims to help people understand how the media and the latest trends contribute to people's relationships with their bodies, including how they feel about food, exercise, fashion, health, identity, and self-care. By understanding the effect that such influences have, the hope is that people can develop a healthier and more realistic relationship with their bodies, rather than giving in to the "accepted norms."
"All bodies are beautiful" That's the conclusive message right? So why has body positivity been such a puzzlement within itself? Why should there be an alternative, when body positivity seems to upholding all the right things?
While body positivity began as a movement that encouraged people to take pride in their bodies and bring down eurocentric beauty standards, many have argued that it has now morphed into a culture that perpetuates those very same ideals. Those who've helped propagate the body positivity movement—trans, queer, fat, disabled and people of colour have mostly been pushed back into the margins to make room for a new face of the movement–thin, white, and conventionally beautiful women, who promote body positivity as they post photo after photo of workout selfies and bikini shots. I mean sure, if you have a "supermodel" body or if you've worked hard to get to it and you want to show it off, do it! But, it just seems a difficult to take the advice of a woman who tells her followers to embrace their curves, their cellulite, their stretch marks and all their other lumps and bumps when she seemingly has none.
It's no wonder then, that many people have found it increasingly difficult to relate to the message that this movement now promotes because of the major influence of the beauty industry. Whether you like it or not, you do unconsciously judge every single person, no matter how perfect or not they might be. It has turned into a movement that now maybe shames skinny girls. For example, Victoria's Secret, a top brand for lingerie and beauty products, is known for its models—'Angels'. Recently in June, they announced that they want to "shape the future" of the brand with new faces and body shapes as its representatives, and now would only have plus sized models for the time being. It all sounds great, fat acceptance and all, but isn't it shaming thin models in a way? So my question is.. you try to love all shapes and sizes.. but why not just accept it?
As much as body positivity is about self-love, it comes with its fair share of frustration, guilt and anger when you "fail" to stay in a continuously positive mindset. It's such a freeing prospect to think of—all the time and energy we might conserve by learning to respect and accept out body—to not be consumed by the relentless pressure to love every inch of it—to not fulfil the need of moulding it into something you'd love, every single day. "Body Positivity." I mean, it has the word 'positivity' in it. But, has it just become too positive? Or worse, toxically positive? (double positive equals negative, right? lol)
This is where 'Body Neutrality' steps in...
Essentially, body neutrality aims to encourage you to accept the body you are in and focus on its achievements, rather than its appearance. Most importantly, the movements want you to just not hate yourself, and accept it for how it is. Keep a healthy and active diet plan and move on with your life. It shouldn't matter whether the person is an XS, XL or even XXL, what should matter is that the person is healthy. That's what should be emphasised.
Saying that, if a person is unhealthily fat or unhealthily thin (with the medical diagnosis saying so) and if they're told that by the people who care about them, it should not be taken as body shaming because it is most certainly not that and everything cannot be put into that bracket. In simple words, this is what makes body positivity toxic.
Body neutrality is an understanding that advocated acceptance of our bodies as they are. It has been in the making for quite some time now and follows on from years of challenging institutionalised fat phobia and celebrating plus sized bodies which traces back to the fat acceptance movement that began in the 1960s. It has been tagged as the "new body positivity" to create an entirely different movement.
But, while body neutrality has gained significance in the past few years, many are still unfamiliar with the term and why it might be a far more liberating alternative to body positivity. Body neutrality is centred on the idea that our self-worth and happiness is not determined by our body image , rather, our body image is just one factor of our identity, which we can remain neutral about. In short, it is about being less body centric and more holistic. Body neutrality doesn't shame, slander or even appreciate those who do express love for their bodies, feel confident in their skin. It just aims to remind us that we have many other qualities which make us who we are.
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