We all have body insecurities because of the meaningless standards set by society. Despite all the “body positivity” talks none of us can truly love our body and it feels unrealistic. That’s where body neutrality comes in.
What is body neutrality?
Body Neutrality is a movement that helps us steer away from self-hate without the pressure of having to love our bodies. Instead, it is about working towards a place where we love our bodies. It does not concentrate on how our body looks but instead it is about how it makes us feel.
Body neutrality concentrates on inner thoughts rather than the physical aspects of our body. On the days we do not like how our body looks, we should be able to thank our body for all it does for us.
Body positivity vs Body neutrality
Body positivity is a destructive and unrealistic movement. It requires loving how our body looks, which is never entirely possible. It makes us feel like a fraud on the days when we are not able to love our bodies.
Whereas, body neutrality is more about appreciating what our body does for us. It ignores the positive or negative thoughts we have about how our body looks. Being body neutral is all about respecting and accepting your body for what it does when you do not love how it looks. It is about making peace with your body.
Society and body neutrality
For years society has enforced unrealistic boundaries regarding how a body is supposed to look. In the 21st century, such boundaries are slowly but surely being blurred due to social media but there is still a huge part of the society that doesn’t accept such change because of the surroundings they brought up in.
It is due to the many factors in our surroundings. For example, most of the fitness industry tries to promote an “ideal” body type and they are not inclusive of all the body sizes and shapes. There is still a lot of change to be brought into our society.
A huge change people can notice is in the fashion industry, where they have clothes for all body sizes and shapes. But despite all these changes, people of different body sizes and shapes still face discrimination and some are deprived of benefits in society.
Steps to practice it
We can bring about change in society in several ways:
- Self-talk: Self-talk is a very helpful tool in making peace with our bodies. On days when we stare at the mirror and do not like the flaws in our body, we should have the courage to tell ourselves that, “it is okay and I am thankful for my body for keeping me alive.”
- Exercise: We have to change the way we see and do exercise. Instead of focusing on losing weight while looking at the weighing scale every day, we should do it to gain inner health. That means doing any activity that we like, instead of only sticking to traditional workouts.
- Change the conversation: Talking about body weight, looks, and comments on it should be avoided completely. We should also spread the knowledge about body neutrality.
- Relationship with food: In the matters of food, we should listen to our body and listen to what it needs. We should not restrict ourselves from any food our body wants and avoid diet culture.
Concluding thoughts
In conclusion, the body neutrality movement should be encouraged on all platforms and should be talked about more. It is only such movements that will bring us closer as a society and teach us acceptance. No size and shape should be shamed as each body is unique and helps us to stay alive.
Do check out our other blogs.
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- FINDING YOUR AMBITION IN LIFE
- TIME AND ITS VALUE
- IMAGINATION-WHAT IS IT AND ITS IMPORTANCE
By Maanya Bisht
