Body Positive.
What is body positive to you? What do those two words mean to you? Body positivity to me is more about unlearning the idea that only certain bodies are worth praise and acceptance and in return recognizing that all bodies are equally valuable. Adopting body positive ideals helped me grow intellectually. It helped me realize what I really wanted out of life. What I feel that other people need to realize is that accepting and loving your body does not make you selfish, which in fact it not only helped embrace my own body but also others as well. I mean let’s be real this body positive movement doesn’t end with just loving and accepting yourself you also have to love and empower other body types as well. Body positivity was developed off of the "Fat Acceptance" movement, which supports the liberalization of fat bodies and fights against stigma surrounding them. This is where things can get a little tricky. The mainstream media likes to portray what the ideal beauty standard should be and they have taken the words “Body Positivity” and have just ran with it. Those two words have now been stripped of its principles due to its commercialization leading many body positive activists to call themselves “Fat Positive” instead. Being body positive isn’t just for plus size men or women. Modern body positivity is for people of any size and gender. Ultimately body positive is about everyone allowing each other to live in their own body as they please. You should be able to decide what is best for your body and what you can do to get to your goal but you should also remember to be kind and empathetic towards other peoples bodies and their personal journey.
This past week I was honored to be invited to the Green Space in NYC and joined two incredible women in discussing The other F word. Thank you WYNC.org for the opportunity to interact with Ebony writer and contributor Tomika Anderson and activist and writer Lindy West. It’s a very interesting video to watch and the conversation aims to shift the narrative away from the norms.
Click here to watch the live stream now. 💜