Wherever you look as a young woman, what do you see. Oh, admire the talent of this person, this is how you become successful in the work place, and brand new art for you all to admire. Don’t be silly. Obviously there is something missing, and once we point out that is the tremendous amount of body talk which we not only read about, but we hear about, and let’s admit it, we probably think about it. And let’s face it, it is rather exhausting. From how to lose weight, how to become more toned, and don’t forget this one! In that you should always still love your body and embrace it whenever you need to. And of course we should try and love and embrace our bodies, regardless, nevertheless this is rather difficult considering the two former points. Therefore, would it not make sense that in the mean time we ought to be happy with their bodies, yep all positive, but not necessarily obsess with the way that they look. After all, just think of all the amazing things that our bodies can do, and the fact that it makes sense that your outer body is not a particularly interesting thing about you . Therefore this way it only makes sense that there would be a movement in order to encourage us to do this, otherwise known as the body neutrality movement.
What is body neutrality?
Body neutrality relates to a “social movement” that “centres marginalised bodies and emphasies that all bodies are deserving of respect.” It focuses more on what the body is able to do, and as opposed to the body positivity movement, it tells people that while they might not necessarily have to love the apperience of their bodies all of the time, they can still give their bodies the love and respect that they deserve. This includes eating a healthy amount to fulfil one’s bodies needs, allowing your body to rest and not giving your body hate because of how it looks.
The ups of the Movement
First of all, for most women, aspiring to the body neutrality movement is more realistic than aspiring to the body positivity movement. This is because considering the rampant media attention that there is on bodies, especially relating to ways in which one can change it, it is very difficult and unrealistic expectation for women to love their bodies at all times. Also, considering the ridiculous amount of attention which the media puts on the apperience of people’s bodies, it is refreshing to see a movement which encourages women to instead value their bodies for what they can do, and to treat their bodies with respect because of this. What’s better, is that it is most certainly more realistic for marginalised groups, who may find it difficult to have to think in a positive way about their bodies all of the time. This includes trans people, who may be unable to feel positive about their bodies due to not being in the body that they should be in. Yet, the body neutrality movement is able to tell young people to value their bodies and give them respect, even though they may be very unhappy inside their bodies.
Your body is the least interesting thing about you
By now, we have probably come across this slogan circulating around quite a bit. This is because whilst there is so much talk about bodies, when we think about this in a realistic way, why is the shape of one’s body so important? When we think of all the incredible things that the body can do which do not relate to the apperience of the body, the fact that as humans we are capable of so many things academically not to mention that the apperience of our bodies do massively change throughout our lives to accommodate our needs. Oh yes, the fact that the UK beauty industry is worth nearly 10 billion euros, therefore it is not surprising that as a result there is so much talk going around concerning how people’s bodies look. Therefore, would it not be nice if we could all change the way that we think about our bodies, before we are encouraged the apperience of our bodies should be the number one thing that we love about ourselves.
Can we still be Body Positive?
Yet it would sound a little sad if none of us end up loving our bodies as a result of this. After all, considering the amount of media attention that bodies receive, we cannot suddenly cstand to a halt when it comes to us thinking about our bodies. This way, in current times, I see that there is considerable room for both the body positivity movement and the body neutrality movement. After all, if you are rather young then chances are you are still going to want to pay some attention to how your body looks. And rather than feeling stuck at the fact that you must therefore no longer pay attention to the way that your body looks, we should still all try and push for liking your body as much as it can for the way that it looks now. Nonetheless, more importantly we all need to think beyond this too, and to realise that there are many more important things than how your body looks.
How can we love our Bodies?
One of the ways in that there was substantial room for improvement within the body positivity movement, was that it could have focused on health more. After all, all of us can enjoy sitting in our rooms just in our underwear with a poloroid camera naked, loving our belly rolls in a sports bra while we are not telling anyone that we are working out so much that we are actually hurting our bodies, or lie to ourselves that we are happy with our bodies when we are binging on chocolate and ice cream each night to cope with our emotions. Nonetheless, it is important to go beyond our hyper fixation of the way that our bodies look, and while we should try our best to embrace how they do look at whatever size, to truly show our bodies love is to do what is best for them is to treat them as well as they deceiver to be treated. This includes all the things which the body neutrality movement includes, as well as trying to do what is best for ourselves, which may or may not have some impact on the apperience of our bodies. Therefore, should try and eat and exercise for our bodies according to what the body needs, for it to be at its best.
https://www.allure.com/story/why-i-dont-use-body-neutrality
https://www.insider.com/what-is-body-neutrality-explainer-2020-8
https://www.healthline.com/health/body-neutrality#learn-more
Personally Political 