Body positivity is the new resistance movement

Nina from the first minute of acquaintance infects with her love of life. Dressed in a red and white plaid 60s-style dress, a shock of blond hair and a wide smile, 24-year-old Nina looks happy and confident. However, for her, life was not always so positive, especially in her youth.

“Like most girls, I was dissatisfied with the figure and embarrassed by my magnificent forms,” she admits. Today, Frenchwoman Nina Flagel has more than 4000 followers on Instagram. On social networks and on a blog, she publishes her photos and photos of other girls whose parameters do not meet model standards. She says that extra pounds are not a reason to suffer, be shy and deprive yourself of the joys of life.

Nina knows firsthand about the suffering: in order to lose weight, she tried a lot of diets, starved herself for six months and “lost weight” to anemia, eating disorders and depression. In 2014, Nina said “enough!”.

On the Internet, she found information about the Body Positive movement, which is popular in the United States. Its participants call for a respectful and nonjudgmental perception of appearance, and also fight against negative social stereotypes in relation to people whose appearance differs from the standard.

The origins of this movement are usually sought in feminism. It was the feminists who were the first to ask the question: why, in fact, do women have to drive themselves into the framework of what is considered the norm with all their might? The photos that Nina publishes are a kind of therapy, a way to cope with complexes. A therapy that runs parallel to classical psychotherapy.

“When you’re not sure of yourself, it’s much easier to express yourself online,” she admits. Women thank me for what I do. Their comments, in turn, support me and give me confidence in my strength. It is good to know that you are not alone in your experiences. In any case, I would like to receive such support in those times when I was uncomfortable in my body.

Learn to love yourself so you can love the world

Of course, not all blog visitors sympathize with Nina. Every day she is faced with the comments of users, whom she silently dubbed “sofa doctors.” What do they write? About the same thing: “Good luck with your diabetes”, “We need to move more”, “Check your hormones”. Nina replies that everything is in order with her tests. And by the way, she regularly plays sports. Fitness, dancing or yoga – an hour and a half every day.

Nina says that prejudice reveals the true nature of each of us. “Through photos I show how happy I am to be myself. It’s a pity that this annoys someone. To another common comment: “No one wants to see you naked except your husband!” Nina replies that nude or underwear photography is her profession. Moreover, most of the nude photos in her blog are made as artwork and show the beauty of the human body.

“With the help of my art, I try to awaken a feeling of love in people,” explains Nina. You have to learn to love yourself in order to love the whole world. If we are intolerant of ourselves, how can we forgive the shortcomings of others?

The Optimist’s Struggle for Happiness in Difference

“Body positivity is a movement of optimists,” says Olga Volfson, Nina’s friend and “comrade-in-arms.” Olga is 27 years old, has purple hair, a t-shirt with the slogan Diet industry dropout, “I dropped out of the diet industry”, a tattoo of a happy pink elephant on a bicycle, a necklace that says Gros Сul, “Fat ass”, a nose piercing. Olga is a journalist, blogger and plus-size model.

Her story is similar to Nina’s. First diet at age 12. The fact that she needed to lose weight, the girl was convinced by close people. Complexes, constant weight jumps, anorexia, depression. Three years ago, she discovered the body positivity movement and began to actively promote it on the Web.

“The Internet is the same public space as a park or a street. There are also men there who call me sexy because they prefer women with curves, as well as those who call me disgusting. Don’t take criticism to heart. It’s not just bbws who encounter such remarks, and not only on the Internet.”

“We do not urge everyone to urgently gain weight,” Olga dispels a common misconception. “Our struggle is not a confrontation between thin and fat. We are not trying to create new criteria of beauty by destroying the old ones. We oppose imposed standards and want to explain to society that we are all different and that’s good.