Contents
Hello dear blog readers! Body positivity, as you might have guessed, carries the idea of a positive attitude towards the body.
That is, he teaches to accept himself and others as they are. Do not evaluate them as a person only in appearance, do not give advice to change. And, moreover, do not persecute those who differ from the generally accepted standards of beauty.
The idea seems to be great, but it also has a number of drawbacks, which we will talk about today.
General information
The history of body positivity began with the fact that its founders wanted to make society more tolerant of people who are different from the rest, but cannot do anything about it. As a result, they sometimes feel rejected, «abnormal», and this contributes to depression, which often ends in suicide.
This trend was formed in 1996 thanks to two feminists, Connie Sobchak and Elizabeth Scott. They felt that their rights were infringed by the obligation to constantly be attractive in order to please the eyes of strangers who are not at all close to them and do not even know them.
Why is it necessary to hide your slightest flaws, hide in overly closed clothes, in no case show up in public without makeup, and so on.
In Russia, it became popular around 2013. At least there was information about the existence of body positive.
Fundamentals of body positivity
Followers of this trend oppose:
- Photoshop and other editors, filters that hide imperfections.
- Fashion for unnatural figures, for example, like the Barbie doll known to every girl. From early childhood, she laid the wrong stereotypes regarding appearance. Attempts to comply with it can lead to anorexia and other types of mental disorders. Not to mention the threat to life, there are many examples of how, in the race for their ideals, women died on the table of a plastic surgeon and so on.
- Generally accepted standards 90-60-90. They believe that a person should weigh enough to feel healthy and active. And not exhausted, but fitting into the ideals.
- The desire to be attractive is not to feel inner harmony, but to be accepted in the male world. That is, do not torture yourself for the sake of recognizing your uniqueness and sexuality.
And put forward ideas for:
- The right to have absolutely any proportions of the body, hair color, skin and its condition. For example, do not consider cellulite or stretch marks after childbirth to be ugly, as they are completely natural. Some girls, fearing to lose their former beauty, refuse motherhood. There was such a phenomenon as childfree — a conscious refusal to have children only in order to fulfill oneself. But, unfortunately, some hide behind this term. Because they are afraid that they will no longer be of interest to the opposite sex due to sagging breasts or abdomen. Or they decide and give birth, but feed the baby with mixtures.
- Positive attitude towards yourself, people around you and life in general.
- Leading a healthy lifestyle, just to feel the energy and be more active, successful, happy.
- Something to say “stop” to senseless competition with “perfect” at first glance girls, in particular models and actresses. Their bodies are often “fixed” with the help of photo editors and makeup.
- Shifting the focus of attention to the inner content. It doesn’t matter what the person looks like. His personality is determined by his actions, thoughts, views on life, interests, and so on.
Examples
There was a fashion for naturalness, which is why some stars simply stopped shaving and epilating. And, given the fact that body positive encourages women not to be embarrassed about their body and not to hide it, they do not cover unshaven places, but, on the contrary, stick them out for show.
For example, in 2017, Lola Kirk, an American actress, appeared at the Golden Globe Awards with hairy armpits.
Glamor magazine decided to be on the wave and took for the cover an actress, screenwriter and simply beautiful woman Lena Danam with pronounced cellulite on her legs. Moreover, in the company of thin models, against which it was very different.
In 2014, Madonna took a chance and put on public display a photo with vegetation under her arms. Her example was later followed by Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Beyoncé, Amy Schumer, Miley Cyrus and many other celebrities. And Nelli Furtdato once came to a concert with a mustache. Which I decided to no longer hide from the public with the help of epilation procedures.
Natalia Vodianova rarely wears makeup, only when necessary for filming. And then, for shows and various events, she can afford a short skirt along with unshaven legs.
What can we say, at one time even Sophia Loren posed for photographers quite calmly with a bun of hair under her arms. By the way, some stars just refer to it. That, despite her naturalness, she was still considered an idol of beauty.
Harm
The negative attitude towards body positivity has become due to too aggressive actions and statements by radical feminists. They literally suspected the infringement of their rights in everything. And it got to the point that just being an attractive, likeable person is bad. They could perceive even a compliment in their direction as an attempt to oppress them.
God forbid, the girl will somehow take care of her body, her skin, as she will be accused of being literally a “litter”, striving to please others and going against her nature.
As a result, over time, for example, such a course as “freebling” appeared — this is a complete rejection of hygiene devices during the menstrual cycle.
YouTube is full of videos of women doing yoga without worrying about more and more blood on their pants. They believe that menstrual blood is no different from blood from cuts, wounds, which is why it is a completely normal and natural body fluid that should not be embarrassed.
Those who have problems with being overweight simply stopped paying attention to their health, requiring society to accept them for who they are. The difficulty is that, hiding behind body positivity, people just relax, because it’s easier to accuse someone of infringing on rights than to review your diet and go for a run.
Doctors are sounding the alarm about obesity not because they are disgusted, but because it negatively affects overall well-being and life expectancy.
Benefit
The positive features of body positivity are that people really learn to love themselves, and not to reject themselves because of their inconsistency with the generally accepted canons of beauty. The fashion for overly thin girls is passing. Most companies refuse to use Photoshop, which brought masses of people to anorexia and plastic surgery.
That is, becoming beautiful is now quite a feasible task for any girl, woman. And for this you do not need to resort to radical methods and low-quality cosmetics, procedures that will only harm your health.
The number of cases of discrimination against persons with a non-standard appearance is decreasing. Society is indeed becoming more tolerant of «otherness». There are fewer and fewer cases of aggression, violence against those who are different. And this allows you to reduce the level of anxiety, especially among adolescents. Which and so are not just given the topic of accepting one’s own body.
Completion
Finally, I want to say, love yourself, appreciate, defend your boundaries. And refuse if you feel that they are trying to manipulate you.
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina