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Body Positive Movement - For or against?

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  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited May 2019
    I'm all for loving our bodies, but I don't think its right to celebrate being fat. All we are doing is teaching the younger generations to care less about their health. Do I think we should criticize people for being overweight? Absolutely not, but we shouldn't be promoting obesity either.
    In my opinion (and this is probably a very unpopular opinion) if you TRULY love your body, you will do what you can to make sure that it is healthy.
    I eat right and exercise BECAUSE I love my body- not because I hate it.

    Why would you think this is unpopular; it is much like what most other posters said. I have not seen one person here saying they celebrate obesity or promote it.

    I basically agree with what amusedmonkey says just above, but that's obviously not promoting obesity.

    I do think that for some people, likely not most of those who need to lose, focusing on weight loss can become a frustrating thing that feels impossible and is tied up in feelings of self hatred. For them, focusing on different aspects of health and trying to address other eating issues (often there's a binge and purge or extreme restrict and then binge thing going on) not only will help with body positivity and health, but IMO often leads to weight loss as well.
  • brittanystebbins95
    brittanystebbins95 Posts: 567 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    I'm all for loving our bodies, but I don't think its right to celebrate being fat. All we are doing is teaching the younger generations to care less about their health. Do I think we should criticize people for being overweight? Absolutely not, but we shouldn't be promoting obesity either.
    In my opinion (and this is probably a very unpopular opinion) if you TRULY love your body, you will do what you can to make sure that it is healthy.
    I eat right and exercise BECAUSE I love my body- not because I hate it.

    Why would you think this is unpopular; it is much like what most other posters said. I have not seen one person here saying they celebrate obesity or promote it.

    I basically agree with what amusedmonkey says just above, but that's obviously not promoting obesity.

    I do think that for some people, likely not most of those who need to lose, focusing on weight loss can become a frustrating thing that feels impossible and is tied up in feelings of self hatred. For them, focusing on different aspects of health and trying to address other eating issues (often there's a binge and purge or extreme restrict and then binge thing going on) not only will help with body positivity and health, but IMO often leads to weight loss as well.

    Not so much here, but everywhere else it seems to be unpopular. But here is filled with people trying to better themselves and live healthier lifestyles. Now, Facebook, for example? Heaven forbid anyone mentions being healthy, or you're suddenly bigoted or "fat-shaming"
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    Boba_14626 wrote: »
    To circle back around: I would give anything to feel good in my own skin. I envy those who love their bodies, no matter what shape.

    I don't think it's as much loving our bodies as it is learning to accept ourselves as we are. What you see in the mirror is not who you are. I personally believe that as long as anyone is looking at appearance only, they will never truly come to terms with the fact that Hey - there just might be a person worth knowing in there. ;)

    Agreed.

    One thing that helped me when I first decided to lose (and was feeling out of control and paranoid that it wouldn't work for me) was to decide that I was going to be as healthy as possible, no matter my weight. So I did cut calories, improved nutrition somewhat (mostly by cooking more), and started an exercise program (based around being nice to myself, not my old habit of immediately thinking I could keep up some punishing workout), and then gradually increased workouts until I was into all kinds of training goals.

    I did lose weight, of course, but what was amazing is how quickly I felt far better about my body, even more than when I'd been much thinner (as a younger person) but fixated on my flaws. It was because I was so much more focused on what I could do, and achieving achievable goals, and not beating myself up or focusing so much on appearance or what I thought others thought.

    Before I did any of this, I also I think came to terms with the fact that I did basically like myself as a person (although one who could certainly work on many things), and was able to use the areas I felt confident in (research skills, basic intelligence, discipline in a variety of things) to apply to my weight/fitness too. I tried to stop thinking of my body as something separate from me, but instead part of me, as one whole person.

    That's quite the journey. And I love what I bolded at the bottom there. That's a huge step to take and I love hearing stories like yours. I've been seeing my daughter go through a very similar Journey so yours is very inspiring. 🙂
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    It's good to love yourself, no matter what. Accepting different body types is great. Shaming doesn't help anyone, and if it does, it's a rare and somewhat twisted case indeed. But I also think it's important not to go overboard with this "all bodies are beautiful" message and lose all common sense and think it's perfectly healthy for an average human to weigh 500 lb. Balance is key as with most things.

    If ever this is deemed necessary this should always be limited to behavior and not the individual.

    It is critical to point out that people are not their behavior, something missing from our collective ideology and having a horrendous result.

    I have a little trouble with this sentiment. People who murder aren't murderers? I understand not punishing an addict for their behavior, and, I suppose, overeating is an addiction in many rights if not all of them. Still... having trouble finding the words.

    I don't think people should be shamed... but I think our actions dictate who we are as people. People who chronically overeat and undermove are obese... I'm all over the place. Nevermind!

    Your reaction is natural and I struggle with the same issue. Boils down to hate the sin, but love the sinner. If you don't separate the act from the actor, then you remove all chance of redemption. There is a good deal of risk mitigation at play here, so while criminal assault would demand some manner of punishment, there is no such need with less risky or offensive behavior.

    There is increasing evidence that addiction is merely a symptom of a deeper root cause - loss of purpose.

    Johann Hari has been studying this behavior in drug addiction, but I believe his hypothesis is correct and his solution would address several other symptoms - obesity, depression, etc.

    https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?language=en
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Boba_14626 wrote: »
    Body positive is great. I think its very important to feel comfortable is your own skin. As a person who's body image opinion is terrible, I envy those who feel good about themselves. That being said, body positive is one thing...health positive is another.

    Agree - one's mind is strong, why not using it? I would just add "mind positive" as well. Trying to lose weight and being generally negative about one's life does not help at all. Not always easy, but at least I try to start my day with a positive thought.
  • OGingerBeardMan
    OGingerBeardMan Posts: 157 Member
    Well said @RelCanonical
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    I think the idea of body positivity is good. Everyone has the right to feel good about themselves.
    However, a lot of people claiming body positivity are only advocating for the overweight/obese people as being able to body positive. The idea that the movement is only for one population to be able to feel good about themselves is not true body positivity. Also, the backlash some of the body positive community gives to its members who try to lose weight is wrong. Wanting to improve your body does not mean you hate your body.
    As long as there are highly vocal people within the movement who advocate against people losing weight when they actually need to lose weight, there will be a lot of people against the movement who may have otherwise supported it.
  • bobshuckleberry
    bobshuckleberry Posts: 281 Member
    You have to love yourself in order to respect and improve yourself. Sometimes change starts with finding what you like about yourself and expanding on that.
    No one has the right to look down on anyone. If all anyone ever feels is negativity from themselves and the world around them they will never be in the right mindset to make meaningful lasting change.
    Embrace yourself, embrace others, it does not mean that you continue bad habits or get stuck, it means you can love yourself while you are getting healthier.
    No one has the right to judge anyone, especially not from an outside appearance. Lift them up, help them along, be a good example, try to involve them in positive activities, yes. I think it is really ugly to not accept someone based on appearance.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    What is the point of this thread on this site? It's already been opened a couple times since I've been browsing the forums here. Someone is fruitlessly going to get offended by some assinine, likely unrelated, nonsense and it's going to be closed again within 2 weeks. This unto itself kind of proves a point that people are too sensitive when it comes to self image to actually have a nuanced discussion. Might as well not waste the time.
  • magnusthenerd
    magnusthenerd Posts: 1,207 Member
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    100% against. It's pro-obesity insanity.

    Actually, in my experience as a morbidly obese person, it was mostly about giving yourself permission to not feel bad about yourself all the gddam time. And also to be offended at people making rude and personal comments.

    And believe me, that freedom was such a relief.

    I'm glad your take on it was helpful to you. Everyone should love themselves and take good care of themselves. That's not what the "body positivity" movement is about.

    The question was for or against. I'm against.

    So you're against the loud minority and the strawmen built around them to judge the entire movement? Well, if you read the thread you'll find out that it's much more nuanced than a simple for or against choice.

    Not a strawman. A movement intended for amputees and burn victims has been hijacked by pro-obesity people.

    It's not okay to be fat. It is not nuanced.

    Really? I find a nuance simply because I don't know what you mean by it isn't okay. Do you mean someone being fat is doing an injustice to you? Is it not okay in that sense?
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    100% against. It's pro-obesity insanity.

    Actually, in my experience as a morbidly obese person, it was mostly about giving yourself permission to not feel bad about yourself all the gddam time. And also to be offended at people making rude and personal comments.

    And believe me, that freedom was such a relief.

    I'm glad your take on it was helpful to you. Everyone should love themselves and take good care of themselves. That's not what the "body positivity" movement is about.

    The question was for or against. I'm against.

    So you're against the loud minority and the strawmen built around them to judge the entire movement? Well, if you read the thread you'll find out that it's much more nuanced than a simple for or against choice.

    Not a strawman. A movement intended for amputees and burn victims has been hijacked by pro-obesity people.

    No, it is not pro obesity. If you'd read the thread you'd know that. Lots of people who benefit from the idea are not obese. Others are or were, and found it helpful in losing weight or getting healthier even when they were still struggling with weight loss.
    It's not okay to be fat. It is not nuanced.

    As amusedmonkey said, okay in what sense?
This discussion has been closed.