Right now as a society we have reached a pique point of activism. When you open your social media, you are bombarded with people advocating for positive change in this country and in the world. These topics cover serious matters that span from racial equality to global warming. You may have caught yourself thinking about whether body positivity awareness fits in with the rest of these serious topics. Is body positivity even worth talking about?
The answer is a resounding yes. Body positivity is far more than simply complementing different body types. Body positivity is a social movement that brings attention to the need of loving your body no matter what size or shape you are. This is an important matter that deserves attention because, for years, we have held a standard of beauty that includes only one body type. Even worse, we have had one standard of beauty that correlates to “normal.”
This bleeds into many societal issues. People who deviate from thin beauty standards are often shamed from a young age and are more prone to bullying and harassment. Their size triggers peoples’ biases which affect peoples’ perception of them. This can even impact how they are seen in the job market. When people’s quality of life is impacted by other’s actions, it makes it a movement worth drawing attention to.
By spreading body positivity, the goal is to move away from the thought that only one body size is acceptable and normalize that all body types are worth love and respect. By seeing campaigns that include people of all sizes, it will slowly accomplish normalizing the idea that having different body sizes is normal and that one is not better than the other.
Everyone deserves to have a positive image of their own body. This is what body positivity is about. Giving men and women the ability to feel confident under their own skin. By eliminating body shaming, and welcoming people of different sizes into mainstream media, people will hopefully attain that confidence. This will improve people’s mental health and reduce the number of people who develop eating disorders.
Eating disorders are a result of people going to extreme lengths to try and reach the body type they have been told is ideal. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, about 30 million Americans have suffered from an eating disorder at least once in their lifetime.
Clearly, this is an issue that impacts many Americans and is worth spreading awareness about. Recognizing the need of spreading body positivity in America is a necessary step to help create a society that is happier and healthier.