The body positive movement has been growing, becoming more and more popular in recent years. So many people worldwide are embracing the body that society has deemed wrong. From my experience, I have seen so much good come from this movement. I have seen such an increase in confidence and self- love within the people around me, especially the women in my life. I myself have grown to love the parts of me that I have hated for years. Body positivity isn’t just a movement; I view it as a mindset, a lens to view yourself and others around you. I see it as a healing practice for people who have felt wrong in their bodies, for people who struggle with their body image in the many ways they come. However, this mindset, as I call it, doesn’t come without struggle. Body positivity isn’t a simple black and white thing and just because you’re trying to practice self-love doesn’t mean you will get it right all the time. As someone who lives for the body positive moment and loves to see people around me unconditionally love themselves in the rawest form, I can still admit that there are struggles when claiming to be body positive. Below are some examples.
1. Feeling like you must love your body at all times and feeling guilty when you don’t
So just because we preach body positivity and self-love means that we’re always going to be on top it right? No. While that is the goal, it is not always the case. Like anything else you might be combating, there will be bad days. You can still stand by and claim body positivity and still struggle with yourself. It is a work in progress, and that is the truth.
2. Feeling like you can’t change or work on your body
This causes a lot of debate but being body positive doesn’t mean that you can’t work on your body for a healthier you, physically and mentally. Exercising and taking care of your body screams self-love because you’re taking care of your physical health.
3. People confusing your confidence for cockiness and wanting attention
Loving yourself is not the same as being cocky or full of yourself. It’s knowing your self-worth and embracing that love, without bringing other people down. Society isn’t used to seeing people, especially women love themselves in such a raw way; therefore when they do, they might label someone as an attention seeker. Some may call it attention while others call it awareness. Remember this is for you and people who hate on you are also the reason why the movement is important.
4. Feeling obligated to show more
Something that I have noticed is that the images in mainstream media linked to BoPo are usually women in revealing clothing, usually lingerie or big t-shirts, showcasing their stretch marks, cellulitis, and their loved “flaws.” While I love seeing this, it is not the sole image of body positivity. As I mentioned before, it’s a movement, an attitude, and belief and has very little to do with how you portray that self-love you have for yourself to others.
5. The misconception that the movement is only for big women and women with body image issues
ALL people need body positivity. Women, men, non-binary folk of all backgrounds and sizes need this. This movement is meant to acknowledge and celebrate bodies that are not considered mainstream and that is why the images we see are of bigger, hairy, and gender nonconforming people but this movement is for everyone.