The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'
Instead of emphasising the need to love how you look, conceptions such as body neutrality, fat acceptance and body respect are permitting women to make peace with their bodies
When Stephanie Yeboah was 12 years old, she was put on a diet and began restricting herself to 300 calories a day. People told her she would be so pretty, if merely she could lose weight. By her early 20 s, a preoccupation with counting calories had led to a devastating pattern of disordered eating. She was bulimic, but, she says, she did not recognise it because her body shape hadn’t changed and society had made it clear:” Fat people don’t have eating disorders; if they did they wouldn’t be fat .”
It wasn’t until she detected body positivity in 2014 that Yeboah found an alternative to self-loathing and depression. Body positivity first emerged in the US in the 60 s to raise awareness of the barriers faced by fat people( and as a result, the word “fat” was reclaimed as a descriptor rather than insult ). Advocates shunned diets and weight-loss surgery and highlighted the need for human rights for bigger bodies.
In the social media era, it was reignited by women of colouring- bloggers such as Gabi Gregg posted images of fat women in bikinis that were soon picked up by feminist sites, and the movement spread to the UK. For Yeboah, it changed her life. She became an influential novelist and plus-size blogger. This year, for the first time, she wore a bikini on holiday. When she posted photos of herself by the pool, she received vicious abuse, but the freedom of the media was revelatory, and the memory of it continues to build her smile.
Yet, as body positivity grew in popularity, women of colouring, women with disabilities and transwomen, were pushed from the spotlight by a more conventional beauty ideal. White girls, with hour-glass figures, often no bigger than a size 16, were described as radical role model. Clothing brand Everlane even launched an underwear scope featuring a plus-size model, despite not yet selling any larger sizes. Meanwhile, on Instagram, fitness teachers with tiny, sculpted waists hashtagged their workout posts #bodypositivity. Stimulated in Chelsea’s Louise Thompson even published a diet and exercise book, called Body Positive, basically advocating against what the movement stands for.
Many former followers now feel the movement has been co-opted. Yeboah is one.” It has become a buzzword, it has alienated the very people who generated it. Now, in order to be body positive, you have to be acceptably fat- sizing 16 and under, or white or very pretty. It’s not a motion that I feel represents me any more .”
New notions began to circulate, including those who are interested “body neutrality”- a concept pitched at those who find caring their bodies a step too far, and instead try simply to find peace with them. For writer Rebekah Taussig, the appeal is understandable.” The body positive movement doesn’t set people with disabilities and other marginalised bodies into the foreground. Body neutrality, I guess, has the power to be really useful in particular to people with disabilities, especially those with chronic ache or people with diagnoses that are progressive. Those people are pretty frustrated with the demand to love their bodies when they feel betrayed by them. Being neutral could feel like a relief .”
Yeboah has now embraced a new approach:” fat adoption “.” If this movement had been called fat adoption in the first place , none of these people would have jumped on it because it’s got the word ‘fat’ in it. Fat is still associated with ugly ,” she says.” It’s very easy to say we shouldn’t concentrate on our bodies, but for some of us we have no choice, because everyone else is. Growing up, there weren’t fat black people on cinema, you never watched them being the object of desire, or playing the lead role. The one time I assured that was Gabourey Sidibe in Empire- it was the first time I’d ever seen a fat woman in a sexuality scene. The commotion was disgusting. It violated my heart .”
One of the biggest criticisms that Yeboah and others face is health. She says it is a tool to legitimise fat phobia, rather than a genuine concern about bigger bodies and health.” The only hour I’ve been admitted to hospital because of my weight was because I was beaten up for being fat ,” she says, referring to an attack for which the perpetrators were convicted.” We’re not promoting obesity, or telling people to be fat, we’re just saying, if you’re fat you don’t have to abhor yourself .”
Dr Laura Thomas is a nutritionist who became a certified intuitive eating counsellor- an approach that repudiates restricted feeing in favour of recognising the body’s own signs for hunger and satiety- after find clients turn up to sessions with disordered eating patterns. She, too, opts the term body neutrality.” I work with a lot of women who can’t relate to the idea of body positivity, it feels too far a reaching for them. So, we talk about body neutrality, or some people call it’ body respect ‘. It is:’ I might not love every single patch of cellulite and belly roll, but I’m not going to punish myself .'”
Last month, Thomas called for Jamie Oliver to rethink his childhood obesity campaign to focus on health improvement instead of weight loss.” We know that diets have an unbelievably high failing rate- some proof indicates it’s between 75 -8 0 %. If all our public health messages are geared towards dieting, which we know is ineffective, that brings a lot of dishonor. We know when people feel good in their bodies, they are more likely to take care of them. When children experience weight-related stigma and bullying at school, they do worse academically. We should leave weight out of the conversation. This Girl Can is the perfect example of a weight-inclusive health campaign – it’s not about weight loss, it’s about feeling good in your body .”
Body positivity has often been interpreted as simply body confidence- in campaigns such as Radhika Sanghani’s #sideprofileselfie celebrating big snouts. But Megan Jayne Crabbe, a leading advocate of body positivity, step up our efforts to nudge her 1 million followers back to the movement’s political origins. Her phenomenally successful Instagram account @BodyPosiPanda famously shared her recovery from anorexia. Yet her before and after photos- thin and unhappy before, bigger and happy after- were recently switched by a diet pill company cynically wanting to use the “before” photo to promote its products.
” I’m someone who has played a part in the delusion[ of body positivity ]. I hold my hands up, I should have been more political from the beginning, and induced more of a distinction between body positivity and body confidence, because they are not the same. If we’re only having conversations about body image and not about body politic then we’re not “re fighting” all bodies- just our own bodies ,” she says.” The things I’m saying, people in fatter bodies have been saying for decades. It’s just that, coming out of my mouth, its more palatable to the masses .”
Hollie Grant, who owns a pilates gym, started the hashtag #athleticsnotaesthetics, encouraging women to enjoy the feeling of their bodies and stop focusing on how they appear. She says there has been a sea change in stances.” Eight years ago , none of this would even have been discussed. Only slim people came to class. I imagine anyone in a bigger body didn’t feel included at all. And diet talk was constant. I’ve noticed the requests now are changing and women are saying they want to feel at peace with their body. We’ve got a really long way to go, but it’s lovely that people are finally taking weight loss off the pedestal .”
Read more: www.theguardian.com
The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'
The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'
The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'
The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'
The Rise Of The Body Neutrality Movement:' If You're Fat, You Don't Have To Dislike Yourself'