What Is Body Positivity?

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Table of Contents

Definition

Goals

Benefits

Criticisms

How to Improve

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Body positivity refers to the assertion that all people deserve a positive body image, regardless of how society and popular culture view ideal shape, size, and appearance. It involves loving your body and feeling good about how it looks.

Keep reading to learn more about body positivity, including what it means, its goals, how it turned into a movement, its benefits, and criticisms. We also share how to feel more positive about your body, which helps support a healthybody image.

What Body Positivity Means

While body positivity has become increasingly popular,people are often confused about exactly what it means. Part of the reason it is so misunderstood is that it has so many different definitions.

Depending on who you ask, body positivity can mean:

Body positivity can also mean enjoying the body you have andnot beating yourself upover changes that happen naturally due to aging, pregnancy, or lifestyle choices.

Body Positivity Goals

Some of the goals of body positivity include:

Body positivity is not just about challenging how society views people based on their physical size and shape, however. It also recognizes thatjudgments are often made based on a person’s race, gender, sexuality, and disability.

Another goal of body positivity is to help people understand how the media contributes to people’s relationships with their bodies, including how they feel about food, exercise, clothing, health, identity, and self-care. By better understanding the effect these influences have, the hope is that people can develop a healthier and more realistic relationship.

Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Body Image IssuesThis episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring model Iskra Lawrence, shares how to be more comfortable in your body and with the way you look. Click below to listen now.

Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Body Image Issues

This episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring model Iskra Lawrence, shares how to be more comfortable in your body and with the way you look. Click below to listen now.

Body positivity is rooted in the “fat acceptance movement” of the late 1960s.The focus of this movement was on ending the culture offat shamingand discrimination against people based on their size or body weight. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance was established in 1969and continues to work to change how people talk about weight.

Around 2012, the body positivity movement began to emerge in its current form.It initially challenged unrealistic feminine beauty standards. As the movement grew, the idea of weight acceptance began to shift toward a message that “all bodies are beautiful." Instagram played a pivotal role in this movement’s growing popularity.

The impact of body positivity can be seen in several ways. Some magazines have stopped airbrushing or photo editing models, for instance, while companies such as Dove and Aerie have developed marketing campaigns incorporating body positivity messages.

Benefits of Body Positivity

Body positivity strives to help people develop a healthy body image. A person’s body image—which is a subjective perception of one’s own body—may be different from how their body actually appears. This can lead to feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that impact their mental health and how they treat themselves.

Research suggests that having a positive body image is associated with a reduced risk of depression,higher self-esteem, and fewer dieting behaviors.Body image also plays a role in how people feel about their appearance and how they judge their self-worth.

Conversely, problems can emerge as a result of poor body image, including:

The formation of body image starts early in life and, unfortunately, even young children may suffer from body dissatisfaction. According to one study, 50.5% of girls and 35.9% of boys wanted a thinner body shape.

Criticisms of Body Positivity

While the body positivity message is intended to help people feel better about themselves, it isn’t without its problems and critics. For example, one problem is the idea that body positivity implies that people should do whatever they think they need to do to feel positive about how they look.

Unfortunately, the popular messages that people are bombarded with include the idea that thinner, fitter people are happier, healthier, and more beautiful. This idealization of thinness can then contribute to people engaging in unhealthy actions—includingexcessive exerciseor extreme diets—under the guise of feeling “body positive.”

Another criticism of body positivity is that it can be non-inclusive. Depictions of body positivity messages tend toexclude people of coloras well as those who are disabled or part of the LGBTQ+ community.

The body images portrayed in body-positive messages often still conform to a specific beauty ideal; many people simply don’t feel included in body positivity.

Another criticism of the body positivity trend is that it makes the appearance of the body one of the most important elements of a person’s self-perception. It neglects all the other elements of a person’s identity that are more important than how a person looks.

How to Improve Your Body Positivity

Body positivity is designed to foster acceptance and love of your body, but it can be a struggle that adds another element of pressure and impossible standards to live up to. So what can you do to maintain a healthy body image?

Be Realistic

Telling people to ignore the dominant beauty ideal isn’t realistic. This can also create more pressure for a person who is alreadyfeeling anxious, negative, and devalued.

Instead, recognize that although an “ideal” body image exists, this doesn’t mean that you have to subscribe to it. You still have value and worth, no matter your body shape and size.

Replace Negative Thought Patterns

Repeating positive affirmations you don’t believe in can backfire. It may even leave you feeling worse about yourself than you did before.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t say nice things or think positive thoughts about yourself. But a better approach would be to work onreplacing negative thought patternswith more realistic ones.

Faking Positivity Can Sometimes Be Harmful

Adopt Body Neutrality

It’s okay to admit that you don’t necessarily love everything about your body. It’s also okay to feel neutral or even indifferent. Your worth and value do not lie in your shape, size, or in any other aspect of your appearance. Body image does play a part in self-concept, but it isn’t everything.

Focus on taking the mental spotlight off your body and try to base your self-perceptions on other parts of yourself.

Admittedly, this isn’t always easy. There will be moments when you feel weak, dislike aspects of yourself, andcompare yourself to others. The key is to keep trying to find new ways to avoid the negative thought patterns that contribute to poor body image.

Body Positivity vs. Body Neutrality

Try Health-Focused Self-Care

Self-care strategiescan sometimes masquerade as a way to change or control your appearance. However, they should focus on doing things that make you feel good about the body you have now.

Show respect for your body. Eat healthy meals because it fuels your mind and body. Exercise because it helps you feel strong and energized, not because you’re trying to change or control your body.

Feel Good In Your Clothes

Wear and buy clothes for the body you have now—not for some planned future version of yourself. You might be holding onto your “thin clothes” because you plan to eventually lose weight, but such habits can make it hard to feel good about yourself today.

Look for things that make you feel comfortable and good about how you look. Purge your closet of clothes that don’t fit your current physique. Your body may change in size and shape in the future, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to look and feel good about yourself in the here and now.

Purge Your Social Media

Purgeyour social media feedsof accounts that don’t make you feel good about yourself. If you find yourself constantly comparing yourself to others, you’re less likely to feel good about yourself.

Takeaways

Fortunately, body dissatisfaction may be on the decline.However, there are still several things you can do to feel more positive about your body, leading to a healthier body image and even a happier life.

11 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Peyton Sutley. In:An Ecological Approach to Obesity and Eating Disorders.Cleveland Clinic.What’s the difference between body positivity and body neutrality?National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.About us.The Body Positive.Frequently asked questions.Griffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ.#BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach.Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580. doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.908580Gillen MM.Associations between positive body image and indicators of men’s and women’s mental and physical health.Body Image. 2015;13:67-74. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.01.002Ferreiro, F, Seoane, G, and Senra, C.Toward understanding the role of body dissatisfaction in the gender differences in depressive symptoms and disordered eating: A longitudinal study during adolescence.J Adolesc. 2014;37(1):73-84. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.10.013Duschesne AP, Dion J, Lalande D, et al.Body dissatisfaction and psychological distress in adolescents: Is self-esteem a mediator?J Health Psychol. 2016;22(12):1563-1569. doi:10.1177/1359105316631196Macedo Uchoa FN, Macedo Uchoa N, da Costa Daniele TM, et al.Influence of the mass media and body dissatisfaction on the risk of adolescents of developing eating disorders.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1508. doi:10.3390/ijerph16091508Dion J, Hains J, Vachon P, et al.Correlates of body dissatisfaction in children.J Pediat. 2016;171:202-207. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.12.045American Psychological Association.Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis. 2016.

11 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Peyton Sutley. In:An Ecological Approach to Obesity and Eating Disorders.Cleveland Clinic.What’s the difference between body positivity and body neutrality?National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.About us.The Body Positive.Frequently asked questions.Griffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ.#BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach.Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580. doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.908580Gillen MM.Associations between positive body image and indicators of men’s and women’s mental and physical health.Body Image. 2015;13:67-74. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.01.002Ferreiro, F, Seoane, G, and Senra, C.Toward understanding the role of body dissatisfaction in the gender differences in depressive symptoms and disordered eating: A longitudinal study during adolescence.J Adolesc. 2014;37(1):73-84. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.10.013Duschesne AP, Dion J, Lalande D, et al.Body dissatisfaction and psychological distress in adolescents: Is self-esteem a mediator?J Health Psychol. 2016;22(12):1563-1569. doi:10.1177/1359105316631196Macedo Uchoa FN, Macedo Uchoa N, da Costa Daniele TM, et al.Influence of the mass media and body dissatisfaction on the risk of adolescents of developing eating disorders.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1508. doi:10.3390/ijerph16091508Dion J, Hains J, Vachon P, et al.Correlates of body dissatisfaction in children.J Pediat. 2016;171:202-207. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.12.045American Psychological Association.Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis. 2016.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Peyton Sutley. In:An Ecological Approach to Obesity and Eating Disorders.Cleveland Clinic.What’s the difference between body positivity and body neutrality?National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.About us.The Body Positive.Frequently asked questions.Griffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ.#BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach.Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580. doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.908580Gillen MM.Associations between positive body image and indicators of men’s and women’s mental and physical health.Body Image. 2015;13:67-74. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.01.002Ferreiro, F, Seoane, G, and Senra, C.Toward understanding the role of body dissatisfaction in the gender differences in depressive symptoms and disordered eating: A longitudinal study during adolescence.J Adolesc. 2014;37(1):73-84. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.10.013Duschesne AP, Dion J, Lalande D, et al.Body dissatisfaction and psychological distress in adolescents: Is self-esteem a mediator?J Health Psychol. 2016;22(12):1563-1569. doi:10.1177/1359105316631196Macedo Uchoa FN, Macedo Uchoa N, da Costa Daniele TM, et al.Influence of the mass media and body dissatisfaction on the risk of adolescents of developing eating disorders.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1508. doi:10.3390/ijerph16091508Dion J, Hains J, Vachon P, et al.Correlates of body dissatisfaction in children.J Pediat. 2016;171:202-207. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.12.045American Psychological Association.Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis. 2016.

Peyton Sutley. In:An Ecological Approach to Obesity and Eating Disorders.

Cleveland Clinic.What’s the difference between body positivity and body neutrality?

National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.About us.

The Body Positive.Frequently asked questions.

Griffin M, Bailey KA, Lopez KJ.#BodyPositive? A critical exploration of the body positive movement within physical cultures taking an intersectionality approach.Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:908580. doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.908580

Gillen MM.Associations between positive body image and indicators of men’s and women’s mental and physical health.Body Image. 2015;13:67-74. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.01.002

Ferreiro, F, Seoane, G, and Senra, C.Toward understanding the role of body dissatisfaction in the gender differences in depressive symptoms and disordered eating: A longitudinal study during adolescence.J Adolesc. 2014;37(1):73-84. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.10.013

Duschesne AP, Dion J, Lalande D, et al.Body dissatisfaction and psychological distress in adolescents: Is self-esteem a mediator?J Health Psychol. 2016;22(12):1563-1569. doi:10.1177/1359105316631196

Macedo Uchoa FN, Macedo Uchoa N, da Costa Daniele TM, et al.Influence of the mass media and body dissatisfaction on the risk of adolescents of developing eating disorders.Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(9):1508. doi:10.3390/ijerph16091508

Dion J, Hains J, Vachon P, et al.Correlates of body dissatisfaction in children.J Pediat. 2016;171:202-207. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.12.045

American Psychological Association.Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis. 2016.

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