Hi there! Welcome back. This post is the second in a series of posts about my concerns with some aspects of the body positivity movement. If you haven’t read the first post it’s best you pop back here and do it now. All done? Wooo! Let’s carry on then. In my last post I talked about the lack of diversity in body positivity, particularly on social media. Now let’s chat about my second worry.

Too many standard size participants

It bothers me that the body positivity hashtag on Instagram has a large number of standard size bodies starting to appear. Yes, I know everything I wrote above was about how body positivity should celebrate all bodies but please hear me out! I’m not a hypocrite I swear . I am well aware that being thin does not mean that a person is necessarily happy with their body. I know everybody, regardless of size, has things they don’t like about their bodies and wish they could change. Do I want everyone to feel happy and beautiful and comfortable in their skin? YES! Of course!

I also know that the body positive space is home to amazing people in eating disorder recovery. In fact the very lady who led me to body positivity Megan Jayne Crabbe was anorexic and talks very candidly about it in her book. She has now put on weight and is a huge advocate for body positivity. I absolutely want others in recovery to join this space.

Are these women truly there to celebrate all bodies?

The issue I have is that I feel some thin people are joining for an ego boost. Enjoying being thin against a backdrop of larger bodies. The fact is society as a whole already celebrates their bodies! Everywhere a thin person looks their body is validated. Magazines, billboards, tv shows, movies, catwalks….the list goes on and on.

A thin person can walk into a clothes shop confident that most of the lines will carry their size. Or they can sit next to someone on a bus without worrying they’re taking up too much of the seat. They can order whatever food they like in a restaurant with no fear of being judged. A thin person doesn’t get looks of pity or disgust or completely unsolicited diet advice from strangers when simply walking down the street! A thin person can go to the doctor with a problem and be taken seriously rather than the doctor immediately assuming the problem is related to their weight. Is it so wrong to want larger bodies, differently-abled bodies, different ethnic bodies to have a place?

Remembering where it all started

I’d like to remind you again that body positivity was pioneered by queer women of colour. Now it is the domain of white women. Normally white women with hourglass shapes bodies. If we then begin a continued slide into smaller sized bodies dominating then surely where we’ll end up is with bopo areas on social media being exactly the same as mainstream. This kinda defeats the purpose don’t you think? I feel sad enough for me but I feel even worse for women of colour. Will there ever be a place for them that isn’t gradually whitewashed. Where they aren’t discriminated against by their photos being less likely to be shown and more likely to be banned. I want my body positivity space to be for ALL equally. I don’t know how we’ll get there but I’m going to keep fighting for it.

Thanks again for moving me and please stop by in a few days for the third and final instalment. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.