While scrolling through my Tik Tok feed I can’t help but notice a multitude of beautiful videos spreading messages about body positivity, as users continue to normalize any and all bodies that do not fit into society’s standards and mold. The majority of the people who I personally see embracing themselves and encouraging others to do the same are not influencers, but rather average people spreading positive body awareness. However, within the comment sections there are various arguments and discussion threads about the topic of body positivity versus the body positivity movement; mainly, the question lies in whether there is a distinct difference between the two and if so, who belongs to what. When I began to take a more in depth look as to who was having these conversations, oftentimes it was between someone whose body fits societal standards versus someone whose doesn’t. Body Positivity is a beautiful thing that I encourage everyone to practice, especially in a society like ours where we are constantly judged on our appearance; it is important for each and every one of us to love our bodies. I also think that it is important to address that there is a difference between being body positive and the Body Positivity Movement. I want to disclaim that I am not making any judgments or telling anyone what they, depending on their body, are part of or not. I simply want to draw your attention to the history of The Body Positivity movement, which was created by Black Women to empower plus size and overweight women and men who were poorly and unfairly treated in society due to their size.
Regardless of what society, the media or others around you say, you deserve to have and/or build a healthy and loving relationship with your body, to work towards respecting your own body and ultimately feel comfortable and happy with the way that you look. No one’s self-worth should ever be defined by their body, yet oftentimes it is difficult for someone to overcome the insecurities and dissatisfaction they have with their own body. This is a journey that is in no way easy, which I can honestly say as someone who has personally struggled and continues to struggle with wholeheartedly accepting, loving and being grateful for my body and all that it does. It is difficult to ignore the overwhelming desire to have the ‘ultimate’ body, yet I recognize that my body, even though I am not always happy with it, will continue to provide and care for me if I choose to do the same for it. My personal journey of building a body conscious relationship with myself, learning to accept and love my body for the way it is, is something separate from body positivity; this is where the controversy and misunderstanding lie. Our society blending self-love with body positivity has taken away from the true intentions and meanings of the concept as a whole. This in no way is meant to invalidate anyone’s experiences and struggles with their own body, rather to simply recognize that a personal relationship with relearning to love our body is different from societal plus size shaming.
There is no denying that being body positive is something everyone should adopt into their own lives, in the same way that you cannot deny that plus size bodies continue to be judged and ridiculed. In the end, it is important to recognize that everyone deserves to have a healthy and loving relationship with their body, which is what the plus sized community advocates for in the Body Positivity Movement. The overall important message is to normalize celebrating and loving all bodies rather than shaming and judging. Digressing back to the topic of the arguments and discussion threads going on about the complexities of the body positivity movement on Tik Tok, the conversation is more so about self-love versus universal body positivity. You simply cannot ignore that body positivity stems from plus size individuals who advocated for themselves and still face discrimination and that this movement remains static in its goal of dismantling the negative societal attitudes towards plus size people. The idea of being body positive has become synonymous with the body positivity movement because people are choosing to blend learning to accept and love your body, with its imperfections and all, with activists combating repression and exploitation. The ultimate difference between body positive and the body positivity movement is accepting and loving your body while the other is challenging the societal expectation by empowering plus size individuals, although there is overlap with respect to their intent.