Written by Mia Davis
Am I ever going to be body positive?
Nope, not this fatty. Relax, I can say that about myself. As long as it’s just self-irony it’s ok, it’s allowed and politically correct, right? That’s what it’s all about lately, isn’t it? Saying the right thing, using the right slogan, following whatever trend and life philosophy is considered correct. That’s precisely why I will probably never be body positive. Because these words have lost their meaning, just like it happens with every good idea that has been shoved through the filters of mainstream judging terms and ended up just a thing you say to prove you are following the right track.
Do I need to be body positive? That should be a no brainer, right? I mean, who wouldn’t want to feel comfortable in their skin? To look at themselves in the mirror and smile, and not care about what anyone else may have to say? Well, it turns out it’s not that simple. In a world that seems to be obsessed lately with being body positive, this slightly overweight woman is saying… naaah!
Don’t get me wrong; I know that positivity is crucial for a healthy life. But what passes as body positivity these days has nothing to do with health. Still, the intention behind this initiative was right. And despite what influencers want you to think, this is not a recent trend; your online yoga instructor isn’t changing history for you. It actually started way back and was meant to put a stop to discrimination.
I looked it up to make sure I’m getting it right. So here it is, the history of body positivity at your feet.
What Does it Mean to Be Body Positive?
The goal of this social movement was to make us all have a positive body image, and that we would accept everyone regardless of their aspect. It’s a beautiful thought, to stop judging people for having an imperfect body. But it goes even further; it’s not just the size criteria that this movement targets. We should look beyond skin color, physical weakness or disabilities, age, gender, and any other discriminating aspect. It sounds great, but when did it all go sideways? Let’s see how it started first.
History of Body Positivity
The idea of fighting against body hate first appeared during a volatile decade for the US, the 60s. All sorts of loud and conflicting ideas were trying to reach the public. And the ‘fat acceptance’ movement had its’ share of energetic voices. But it wasn’t about who gets on the cover of magazines or what body type gets more likes online, as it seems to be today. The point was to prevent overweight people from having their civil rights violated. Their message was that a different body shouldn’t get unfair treatment when applying for a University or a job, or when they need healthcare assistance. These are serious issues, and this type of discrimination is hard to fight. It was then, and it still is today, in some instances.
Anyway, that’s when NAAFA emerged, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Later, in 1996, the movement that started in the 60s got a more sensible title: body positivity. The name was given by a psychotherapist; he had suffered from an eating disorder and experienced all the stigma that came with it. He founded a website and started educating people to take the healthy path to lose weight. He fought against crash diets and exaggerated effort. So the goal was to move away from stressing over body imaging and towards a healthy lifestyle.
Body positivity as we know it today arose in 2012 and focused on loving your body no matter what it looks like. The internet made the movement more popular with each year. But somewhere along the way, the message became less clear, and now everyone interprets it however they see fit.
Why Is Body Positivity a Thing?
My guess? Because we’re hypocrites. We shout it out loud without knowing precisely what we mean. What does it mean to be body positive? To accept your body with all the flaws that age and life bring along? To love your body even if it’s overweight? To feel confident and not even think about your physical aspect? Not to judge people on their appearance? But does it mean we stop caring about our aspect altogether? Do we ignore the health issues connected to being overweight?
In many cases, body positivity is a thing because talking about it gets you noticed. That alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as the things you say on the subject are helpful and relevant. But have you noticed how many picture-perfect people claim to be strong sustainers of body positivity? To me, that raises a series of questions. Do you really think you should feel good in your body no matter what the scale or the mirror show? If so, why are you making so much effort trying to look perfect? Are you really driven only by the desire to be healthy? Do you really have no secret desire to eat whatever you like and forget about exercising? That may be true in a few cases, but the rest of them… I seriously doubt it.
In fact, if you really think a happy body is what matters, without caring about the size, color, age and other discriminating aspects, it’s easier than you think. You don’t need to emphasize it with countless posts; all you have to do is respect people for who they are and not to analyze and judge them.
What Is Wrong with Body Positivity?
If the movement started with a general view on how we should see and respect each other and not discriminate, things are a bit different today. Now the idea of being body positive has become an excuse for being extremely overweight and not paying any attention to our bodies and health. It seems we’re missing the point. The problem with excessive weight isn’t the aspect, not entirely, it’s that all those pounds are stressing the organism in ways we don’t even realize. The fact is that being overweight isn’t a positive thing; it can cause heart conditions, diabetes, and so many other illnesses, as well as making our lives uncomfortable. Nobody can truly argue with that. Or can they?
The Health at any Size Movement
The HAES movement is based on the idea that the fight against obesity does too much damage and is a lost cause. They say that instead of imposing strict standards, you should listen to your body, accept it as it is, and try to adopt healthy habits without allowing weight loss to be the goal.
While the idea of avoiding strict measures in our efforts to lose weight is definitely positive, the rest of the ideology of the HAES movement is pretty shaky. The notion that health isn’t connected to your weight is an argument we hear a lot. But can you really be healthy at any size? I don’t think so. Even thin people indeed can get ill, but the weight always accentuates all the pre-existing conditions in the body and causes new ones as well. This isn’t a myth; any doctor will tell you there’s an entire list of health issues that are caused by obesity.
And that’s what this is about, obesity, not a slightly increased weight. Thinking that you can be healthy at any size is like looking at a 90 years old man who has been smoking and drinking his all life and saying that’s the proof alcohol and cigarettes aren’t bad for your health. It’s just a weak justification for obesity, and it can cause a lot of harm.
The HAES movement seems quite contradictory to me. If you consider obesity doesn’t affect health, why bother having a healthy lifestyle? What does that lifestyle mean, if not an attempt to get back to eating less and being active? The part about refusing to set impossible standards is great. But from that to claiming that you are healthy at any weight, there’s a long and dangerous road.
What Is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating encourages people to stay away from diets and stop feeling guilty for eating something they like. The idea is to rely on your intuition and to give your body whatever it requires, without resenting yourself afterwards. It’s not about overeating, but rather about losing weight in a natural matter, without starving yourself or imposing harsh limits.
We seem to have all sorts of movements and revolutionary ideas when it comes to finding excuses for not making an effort to stay healthy. To me, intuitive eating is just another example. It’s another strategy that sounds great in theory but almost impossible to put into practice. Why? Well, if we could so easily trust ourselves only to eat what the body needs and stop once we’re full, we wouldn’t have weight issues in the first place. How do you set the line between what the body needs and craving?
The Body Neutrality Movement
Body neutrality takes the focus away from your body and states that you should neither love nor hate it. Instead, you should focus on the way your body functions and on the things you can do with it. The goal is that the way you evaluate yourself should have nothing to do with your appearance. In other words, if I can run, jump or try whatever activity I find interesting, who cares what my body looks like? That’s another concept that sounds interesting, but reality seems to be different.
Medical Facts
How about instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we listen to the doctors? Let’s try to realize the dangers that come with being overweight. The CDC list of diseases caused or aggravated by obesity is long and scary:
- High blood pressure
- High LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol
- Type 2 diabetes
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Sleep apnea
- Cancer
- Mental issues
These are straight-up facts, and trying to put a different spin on them is pointless. Obesity is harmful, whether we like it or not. And hiding behind being positive is not only useless but also very dangerous.
Does Body Positivity Promote Obesity?
Body positivity was meant to keep overweight people from facing discrimination. But somewhere along the way, all that ideology got derailed. The body positivity movement may not intentionally promote obesity, but it certainly contributes to its spreading. More precisely, the problem is the way people interpret the idea behind the movement, and all the misconceptions we choose to accept because they are comfortable and justify our faulty lifestyle.
If you Google images for body positivity, it will definitely look like this movement is promoting obesity. Aesthetically, that shouldn’t be an issue. Everyone is free to look and act any way they want as long as their actions don’t have negative consequences on others. But the real problem is that obesity is cutting our life expectancy and affecting the quality of life. There’s nothing positive about that. It has nothing to do with body hate; quite the contrary, it should be about respecting our bodies and our lives and taking some reasonable steps towards a healthy lifestyle.
Misinterpretation in Weight Loss
Weight loss is a sensible and difficult topic, so it’s no wonder it raises many strange interpretations. We see so many myths connected to how to lose weight, and they tend to take the focus away from the main issue. The only good reason anyone should consider losing weight is to have a long and healthy life and avoid illnesses and a bad overall state. Instead of focusing on that, we issue theories that ultimately bring no value to our lives. In fact, they encourage an unhealthy attitude by giving us irrelevant aspects to hide behind.
Is Body Positivity Toxic?
Being body positive is a good thing if we understand this term the way it was created. We shouldn’t feel bad if we have an imperfect body, we shouldn’t go to extremes trying to lose weight, and, not the least, we should always keep away from body shaming others. If we do make others uncomfortable in their own bodies, it can lead to severe anxiety and other health problems. On the other hand, promoting overweight people and turning them into models is equally dangerous. That’s how body positivity can go wrong. Going to extremes is never a good idea. And not having any interest in your weight and health is just as toxic as extreme dieting and obsessing over what the scale shows.
How much Does Poor Body Image Affect Mental Health?
Being body confident is more important than we realize, for many of us. And it’s such a fragile state; it doesn’t take much to overturn it. Sometimes a negative comment or a mean smile is all it takes. Our reaction is immediate and can lead to severe consequences on a psychological level. Sometimes it causes anxiety, stress, it makes us feel disappointed with ourselves, but in extreme cases, it can be even worse. People can end up hurting themselves because they were the target of body shaming.
Image by athree23 from Pixabay
An article in The Guardian reveals the extreme reactions that start from a poor body image paired with other people’s cruelty. And the numbers are really concerning. The lesson here is to realize once more that our mental health is more fragile than we think; and that plenty factors affect it even without adding body shaming. So let’s go back to the beginning of the body positivity movement and remember its’ original goal: to end discrimination and get us to stop hurting each other.
It’s not All about Weight
One of the issues I have with this body positivity movement is that it’s turning into a single, one-way street; when in fact, it should be a busy intersection. Weight is not the only issue connected to body image. People are being shamed for skin color, height, hair, having a flat behind or small breasts, and many other things. And yet body positivity seems to be mainly about how happy overweight people are.
Final Thoughts on Being Body Positive
Are you getting dizzy? I am! This body positivity is more complicated than I expected. So I think the best thing to do is try to take the good parts and use them to make our lives a little better. And there are good aspects to choose from. Loving your body is essential; but that includes making sure it stays healthy, by not eating only junk food and being as active as you can.
Not judging yourself or other people on physical appearance is another crucial aspect. It’s not as easy as it sounds, because human nature sometimes gets in the way. But we can make efforts to educate ourselves and improve our reactions; the result will be positive both for the people we meet and us.
As for myself, I know I’m overweight, and I’m not happy about it, even without having someone else body shame me. I’m doing my best to lose weight without going to extremes; sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. I’m working on my frame of mind and trying not to make such a big deal about what the scale shows. For me, having a certain weight is important not only because my health needs improving, but also because fitting in a decent size of jeans makes me happy. I don’t think to be body positive means letting your guard down and not caring about what the mirror reflects. So where does that leave me, body positivity-wise? I guess I’m interpreting it my own way, just like anyone else.