What Does Body Positivity Even Mean?
“Body Positivity” has been a popular buzzword we hear in contrast to diet culture buzzwords.
The Body Positivity Movement began in 2010 when Linda Bacon, Ph.D. published Health at Every Size, a book that promoted the idea that everyone should have respect regardless of their weight. The movement spurred a community of people who shared resources to stop dieting and find professionals that agree with the idea that fat doesn’t always mean unhealthy. They were united under the notion that everyone should love their body – no matter what the media or diet industry might say.
Below our team at Wingspan Health discusses the current state of “body positivity” today and the role it plays in mainstream culture. Then we will debunk previously held perceptions of the term by talking about how the concept is more intersectional than you might think.
Today “Body Positivity” is a Buzzword.
The core idea of body positivity is not bad: people should not feel pressured to get their bodies to fit a mold of the “ideal body.” However, Body Positivity has since evolved into a popular buzzword to contrast to diet culture buzzwords. The result is a lot of misunderstandings about what body positivity means from a limited meaning of being “a little bit bigger” than the cultural ideal to mean the same as having a positive body image.
Today, the current perception of body positivity is seen on social media with images and videos of white, cis-gendered women tagged as body positive. As a musician and cultural icon, Lizzo, aptly puts it in her interview with Vogue in September, “‘body positivity’ doesn’t go far enough to ‘normalize’ all bodies.”
Current State of Body Positivity: The results page of #bodypositive on Instagram as of December 2020.
What Body Positivity Is.
Body image is your perception of your own body not others and not necessarily based on your body size. Having a positive body image is an important aspect of being body positive but it is only a part of the bigger concept.
While strengthening your body image is personal, body positivity is a larger concept and broad social movement that values all bodies with the saying: “All bodies are good bodies.” That means that there are no limits to what a good body is, not just size.
Body positivity is meant for people of all sizes, shapes, colors, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and ages. To see what body positivity is, check out our Top 7 Body Positivity TikTok Accounts to Follow that our team at Wingspan Health put together.
TL;DR
Too Long; Didn’t Read
Body positivity has become part of the mainstream narrative but the people that this term was created for are not benefiting from it.
What body positivity means is “all bodies are good bodies” from all sizes, shapes, colors, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and ages not just “a little bit bigger” than the cultural ideal.
To see what body positivity is, check out our Top 7 Body Positivity TikTok Accounts to Follow that our team at Wingspan Health put together.
Wingspan Health
Wingspan connects to your online doctor accounts (“patient portals”) and safely compiles all of your information into one easy-to-use platform. By accessing and understanding your past health information, Wingspan can help you make use of it.