The art of being body positive is something that needs to be preached and practiced, now more than ever, with the establishment of ridiculously falsified beauty standards set by society. Body shaming has become an appalling concern in the lives of many. It is an action of demeaning or mocking someone for their physical appearance which includes shape, size, and color. It causes anxiety, depression, and many more mental health issues. Today, body shaming is one of the major reasons why people face mental disorders.
Body shaming is a social evil that instills body negativity within an individual. Body negativity is when an individual criticizes his/her own shape, size, color, or appearance for not being aligned to the unreal, idealistic appearance that society has internalized. This leads to severe damage to the person’s confidence and self-esteem. There are many ways to eliminate the social evil of body shaming. The most effective way is to raise your voice against it. In today’s day and age of social media, body shaming has become normalized. If you come across any such instance where an individual is being mocked for their outer appearance, one should call it out. However, what if the individual who is being mocked starts believing that there is something wrong with him/her? What if the individual himself practices body negativity? This is where the art of being body positive comes in handy.
Body positivity is “a movement advocating the view that people should not be ashamed of the appearance of their bodies”. In simple words, body positivity is the act of loving your own body without caring about society’s unrealistic body standards. It’s the whole-hearted acceptance of one’s shape, size, color, and entire physical appearance. (2)
The first step to learning the art of body positivity is acceptance through affirmations. Once you accept the fact that there is nothing wrong with your body, you have already won half the battle. This comes from the realization that your body is your home and home is a place where one should feel extremely comfortable.
The second step is to realize the fact that different people have different bodies. Unlike what society has internalized our minds with, there is no ideal body shape, size, or color. This realization is followed by the next step of appreciation. You must appreciate everyone’s body the way it is. One should never criticize someone or point out their physical appearance and term it as a ‘flaw’ that needs to be corrected. Be it a pear-shaped body or an hourglass body, it deserves to be appreciated.
The last step is to promote body positivity. This involves questioning the unrealistic standards of beauty and helping others to build confidence in their own bodies.
Besides this, body positivity also includes the relationship of an individual with several related aspects, such as exercise, food, clothing, and so on. The most important part of body positivity is to promote and practice self-care and self-appreciation. It’s extremely essential to strive towards fitness instead of attaining the perfect body type. It’s crucial to realise that clothes are meant to fit you, not the other way round. This is a practice that involves exercising and eating for a healthy lifestyle and not to change or ‘fix’ your body. It’s an act of doing things that are conducive to the nurturing of your body.
In today’s day and age, it is very difficult to not compare or idealize the influencers, models, and celebrities. However, it is important to break the garb of concealed outer appearance and look what’s beyond the glamorous lives of people. There should be no place for validation of self-doubt when it’s the question of your own body.
In conclusion, today, things are changing. Every industry is promoting body positivity. This wave has encouraged the fashion and modeling industry to include models of all shapes and sizes. There are many influencers on social media who are constantly striving to spread awareness about the importance of body positivity. However, the most essential and crucial thing is for this is to live a happy and peaceful life. Learning and practicing the art of body positivity is the first step to loving yourself.