Toronto’s free paper, NOW Weekly, releases a “Love Your Body” issue every January to promote body positivity, pushing back against the prevalent weight loss goals that tend to flood the mainstream in the new year.
They recently put out a call for participants for their 2018 issue, in which individuals participate in a photoshoot and share their stories about their bodies and thoughts on body positivity more generally. On Wednesday I put in an application.
“Body Positivity” can sound like very a broad category. Much of what I see online (especially through body positive Instagram accounts such as @bodyposipanda, @bodypositiveunicorn, and @bodypositivememes) is a kind of fiercely positive attitude about one’s body no matter what that body might look like.
This reframing about diverse bodies is nice to see. It can also act as a salve for all the uniform bodies we tend to see in other media outlets.
But for me personally, at least sometimes, I find Internet Body Positive Culture a little alienating.
I would consider myself body positive, and was raised in a very female-friendly (all-ladies) household with a supportive, creative and free-spirited mother. My sister and I were strongly encouraged to be ourselves and to seek ourselves, whatever that might look like.
Sometimes I wonder if the current stream of body positivity almost pushes back too much, so as to go against any questioning or frustration one might have with one’s body over the course of a life. Isn’t it okay to admit that sometimes my body frustrates me? Or grosses me out? As if I must ALWAYS feel intensely positive about my body, and if I don’t, I have somehow fallen victim to body shame?
My sister, a feminist visual artist, has always been a big fan of the body’s “grossness.” This is the focus of much of her work: using blood, hair and teeth in her artwork. Instead of following the language of body positivity, she chooses instead to celebrate the body’s gross aspects, like the various liquids and pusses and goops that might come from the body.
Some might argue that this is body positive art. But I’m not so sure. Much of the Internet Body Positive stuff I see is about proclaiming that everything about bodies is beautiful. And honestly, I feel like it can get a little tiresome. What if not everything about the body is beautiful? AND that’s okay? What if there are lots of gross things about the body—AND that’s okay too?
Is it more important to say that everything is beautiful, or that it’s okay when things aren’t?
In a recent post by Instagram Body Positive activist, @mandas_muffintop, she writes, “You can love yourself and change yourself at the same time. . So many people have it engrained in their mind that to be a part of the body positivity community, especially here on IG, they aren’t allowed to change. Some BoPo community members shame those of us who decided to change our bodies for our health, or to just be more comfortable in our own skin. I’m here to tell you that you are allowed to do WHATEVER you want with your body, and still love it. It’s YOUR body, YOUR life- not anyone else’s. So don’t let anyone shame you. Don’t let anyone shame you into changing if you don’t want to. Don’t let anyone shame you into staying the same if you want to change. SHAME IS NOT OKAY ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM.”
In my application to participate in the 2018 NOW Love Your Body Issue, I wrote:
“Like many women, my body fluctuates in both pounds and clothing sizes, and this is something that is a point of continual frustration for me. (I often feel like it has a mind of its own.) Yet even though my body frustrates me, sometimes even disgusts me, I love it. I love it very much, in fact. I suppose throughout this, I have been learning that self-love/body-love is something that evolves and moves and changes—it is not static. Much like how our bodies are not static entities, but are incredibly dynamic.”
I believe there is room for questioning, frustration, and even disgust with our bodies WITHIN Body Positivity. Some might disagree with me. What I feel with the current culture of Internet Body Positive is a pushback against traditional standards of beauty—and I think that does need to happen…and I look forward to a celebration of grossness soon.
I think I am beautiful. But I also think sometimes I am gross. And that that’s okay too.
Love your body, just make sure you don’t hurt yourself that it endangers your life.
You make good points indeed. It’s like those people who always want us to be positive and loving: No, sometimes I want to be angry and shout at the sky. It’s all about control: controlling/policing our emotions and reactions, when in fact we are fluid, responsive creatures, needing to continually find new balance… I’m 51, and absolutely love my body, except for when I love it less for an hour, and wish it was more flexible or strong, so then I either go to yoga and the gym or I don’t, it’s all OK… Less judgement, more acceptance I say!
Love this. Thanks!
“Is it more important to say that everything is beautiful, or that it’s okay when things aren’t?”
Thank you for putting into words the feeling I’ve been unable to define.
Lovely post.
One of my hobbies is fitness modeling. I am never satisfied with my body.And often for the most superficial of reasons. But that is because I use my body as, well art, I guess. I am also a competitive swimmer, and I consider trying to make my body more like a magazine cover similar to trying to make my swim times faster. I don’t look down on different bodies at all, anymore than I would look down on non-swimmers. That would be silly. Not everyone shares my hobby. However, I don’t like being told (or have it implicitly suggested) that I am vain or a bad person because I put a lot of time and effort into having a certain type of body. Coming from this perspective, perhaps ironically, much of the body positive movement comes off as judgmental to me. And I am glad to hear you voice a different perspective.