What Body Positivity Is NOT – A List
Today we’re going to talk about what body positivity is not, as there are many misconceptions out there. I’ve spent a lot of time here at CMooMuses describing my journey to self-love and body positivity. On any given day, I spend an exhaustingly large amount of time defending my position on my Twitter and Medium pages as well as on Quora. So today, I’m going to explain the top ten things body positivity is not.
It Is Not A Group Of People Lying To Themselves
Fans of thin culture love to say body positivity advocates and devotees are lying to themselves. They want to be thin and are trying to make themselves feel better by pretending to love their bodies. Nope. After decades of yo-yo dieting, starving and bingeing cycles, miserable workouts, and hating my body, I finally love myself as I am; belly rolls, flabby arms, cellulite, and all. I made the decision my mental health is more important than an impossible fight to be thin.
It Is Not Glorifying Or Promoting Obesity
Another favourite for the fat haters out there. You’re glorifying obesity; you want others to be as unhealthy as you are! If the posts published by fat acceptance activists contained a call to action, asking others to become fat, I would agree that fat acceptance promotes obesity. They don’t, though! I have never seen a single post that says anything more than “I’m fat, and I’m happy as I am. I don’t want or need to lose weight.” Notice all the “I” in there. They’re not saying everyone should be fat. They’re not saying anyone should be fat. They simply say that they refuse to make themselves miserable, forcing their bodies to become a size they were never meant to be. They say they are beautiful as they are, not that they would be beautiful if they lost weight. I write about this in more detail in my full blog post here.
Body Positivity Does Not Promote Laziness
Take the time to look at many of the fat acceptance and body positivity Instagram influencers. You’ll see they show photos and videos of them working out, hiking, dancing, and doing yoga. Fat people are not all lazy any more than thin people are always active. There are thin couch potatoes and fat fitness buffs. Assumptions based on size are biased and wrong.
Body Positivity Is Not Solely For White Folx
There is an element of truth to this. Biased IG algorithms and an inherent level of racism in fatphobia mean that the very people who started body positivity are excluded from it. ALL bodies should be celebrated, and we all need to actively seek them out in the hope that IG will realise we want to see them.
Body Positivity Is Not Solely For Women
Again, most of the body positivity space on IG displays women. We need to see men, transgender, and non-binary individuals. All bodies are beautiful, and we want and need to see them all. It’s a disgrace we have to actively seek them out rather than seeing them displayed in all their glory by default.
Body Positivity Is Not Against Healthy Eating
Again, body positivity does not promote obesity. It does not say that to be “in the club” you have to eat pizza, chocolate and crisps all day but it is also ok if you do. There is no judgment of any kind. Many body positivity supporters, myself included love salads, vegetables, and lean meat. Just because we’re fat does not mean we lie on the couch, stuffing ourselves full of takeaways all day.
Body Positivity Does Not Fetishise Fatness
Fetishes come in all kinds, and there is no denying a fat fetish is one of them. I saw an episode of my 600lb life where the partner of a woman who had bariatric surgery left her because he found fatness sexy and didn’t want her to lose weight. Are fat people sexy? Hell yeah! Should that be the only thing you’re interested in? Hell no! That is no basis for a relationship, and in my opinion, she was well rid of him. Some members of the fat community post pictures of themselves in their underwear, but it’s not there to attract unwanted sexual advances. It’s there to normalise fat bodies, dressed and undressed.
It Is Not A Place For Thin Women To Come To Feel Better About Themselves.
Body positivity is for everyone; there is no doubt about it. It is not there for thin women to post photos of themselves to make themselves feel better at fat people’s expense. Posting photos saying “I’m learning to love my love handles” when there’s not an ounce of fat on you is disingenuous at best and actively fatphobic at worst. I’m not saying everyone doesn’t have insecurities about their bodies. I am saying that there are plenty of places for you to have that discussion that isn’t in the body positivity space. Talk about things you don’t like about your body, sure but don’t contort your body to create non-existent fat rolls.
What Body Positivity Should Be
I’m sure everyone’s opinion is different but for me body positivity should be a safe space. A space where every body size, shape, colour, gender and level of ability is displayed and celebrated. A place safe from unkind words, judgment and fatphobia. In short, I want it to be a place of love, support, happiness and hope. Sadly, body positivity isn’t always that space but it won’t stop working towards it and I will always make sure that’s exactly what CMooMuses is. Take care til next time 🙂
