What is "Body Positivity"?

"in a world where you can be anything, be kind to yourself"

I am someone who has a difficult time understanding body positivity.

To be frank, it's confusing AF.

I feel like the media has stollen the term "body positivity" for women, and specifically curvy women, or women with stretch marks and cellulite... which are all beautiful things, but in turn, somehow end up shaming slimmer women. This isn't even the true definition of "Body Positivity".

The way the media has shaped body positivity, makes it seem like body positivity aligns with the phrase "REAL women have curves."

When I was searching for images for this post, this is what came up:

The vast majority of these images are of curvier women. Don't get me wrong, I think curvy women need to be celebrated, considering skinny, and ONLY skinny was "in" for so many decades, and basically my entire life until now. But where does that leave the rest of the spectrum of bodies?

I think media has ruined what the body positivity movement stands for.

"To me, body positivity means accepting the body you have as well as the changes in shape, size, and ability it may undergo due to nature, age, or your own personal choices throughout your lifetime. It's the understanding that your worth and what's going on with you physically are two separate entities — that no matter what's happening inside, outside, or to your body, you're still just as worthwhile as the person next to you." -- Mallorie Dunn

What does "Body Positivity" mean to me + how does it play a role in my life?

To me, body positivity is learning to love your body no matter what. This is something that's much easier said than done, but slowly you can grow to love every inch of your being. I think I've always loved parts of my body, while being enraged by the parts I don't like haha. I love my hips, and my small waist. But I've had a love-hate relationship with my butt, because I grew a pancake into a decent cupcake at the gym, but it won't grow any bigger lol. Oh and my boobs. My DAMN BOOBS. I have been saying that I've wanted implants since I was 12 years old. It's like I knew they weren't ever gonna grow in. Frankly it sucks and I hate them. I also have already had 2 benign lumps surgically removed from them, which makes me hate them more lol. One of those lumps took up like a quarter of my boob, and now I am eligible for government funded reconstructive surgery-- so please don't be alarmed when ya girl starts posting up pics with visible boobage, do not be alarmed lol.

That being said, I've never looked in a mirror and thought "oh god I hate my body."

However, I did spend an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Instagram, comparing myself to "Instagram Baddies" and hating my body for multiple seconds. This is why I unfollowed a bunch of instagram accounts that I felt were unhealthy for me, most being that I was following them solely for the fact that I thought they were pretty. This helped a lot, and I honestly recommend it. So to me, body positivity is a subconscious process that I am constantly working on. I think it's okay to want to change things sometimes, and I also think it's okay to put action into your words in that sense. I mean, I'm doing it, so how could I judge.

All in all, body positivity is a lot more complex than just telling people they should love themselves. It's a process, trust it.

xo,

A