For as long as I have been able to form a stream of consciousness, I have had awareness about my body and the way other people view it. As a child, as a teen, as an adult, body image has ingrained itself into my very bones. This is an experience that so many women have wrapped around their being, a constant awareness of how we take up space and how that space is perceived. I won’t say it’s a uniquely feminine trait, because body image is a universal thing, but it is something that all women experience in some form.
College only amplifies these feelings.
You are surrounded by thousands of people your age. You’re photographed at events, tagged in unapproved photos, and counting likes on your recent Instagram dump. Social media accelerates and becomes currency during college.
Comparison is the thief of joy and everything, but it is so easy to fall into this pit, comparing everyone to yourself. With social media being a constant thing throughout college and young adulthood, it is so easy to click, compare, and then internalize. Finding yourself tagged in a photo with your friends, looking at everyone else, and then looking at your own body negatively.
Body positivity had such a period and place in time, and it felt like we were moving towards a better mindset. A healthier time. But in 2025 and so far in 2026, that momentum stalled. With the rise of Ozempic and toxic gym culture, body image is at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds, and thinness has taken back over. Colleges, already breeding grounds for comparison, absorb this instantly.
It’s exhausting trying to love your body when multiple industries are profiting off of your insecurity. It takes a massive toll on your mental health, and reaching for the idealistic “I love my body!” can feel so futile.
Body neutrality, though, can be possible. And oftentimes, a lot more achievable.
Saying that you don’t have to love your body, but you aren’t allowed to hate it. Acknowledging that your body is not an aesthetic, but a vessel for life. It carries your books to class, hugs your friends, walks you around campus, and lets you exist in the world. It deserves respect even on the off days. Saying to yourself, “This is my body today,” letting that be enough, and moving on.
No moralizing food, no toxic exercise, no choosing clothes based on what makes you look smaller. It doesn’t require constant self-love and there are no demands for admiration of your reflection every morning. Just acceptance and a focus on function instead of appearance. You can choose to participate in life and make memories instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting until you ‘look better.’
Positivty might be out of reach, but neutrality is accessible.
Accepting that maybe you aren’t always in love with yourself, but you have to appreciate that your body does everything for you. That alone makes it worthy of kindness.
College is full of opportunities to dissect and compare yourself, but at the end of the day, your body is yours alone. Anyway you decide to view your body, know that it deserves grace and kindness. It deserves to be lived in, not constantly measured and evaluated.