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Body Positive Movement - For or against?

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  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,486 Member
    edited August 2019
    Just got on to my Health Savings Account website login page. The models were a morbidly obese couple. I'm all for being body positive but questioning that web design given the nature of the site.
  • PWHF
    PWHF Posts: 221 Member
    I believe people can do what they want with their bodies and life choices. But if you're not happy with your body and life choices it's not the problem of people who have made different life choices.

    Watching what you eat and working out is not a privilege, making positive life choices is not a privilege. I'm all for accepting everyone as they are and equal rights for all. I see overeating the same as alcoholism, it's an addiction that stems from something deeper. I'm a reformed alcoholic and I don't hate people who can drink in moderation, imagine if I started attacking people on social media who were posting up pics of them enjoying a drink at a party - because I cant...
  • PWHF
    PWHF Posts: 221 Member
    mbaker566 wrote: »
    PWHF wrote: »

    Watching what you eat and working out is not a privilege,

    they are a privilege. sometimes, you have little choice in what you eat. availability, finances, budget, non1st world problems. sometimes, you work 2-3 jobs, have kids or family obligations, long commutes.
    when you are struggling to get by or survive, all of it becomes much more fuzzy.

    Choosing to not overeat and become obese is not a privilege. being able to afford a gym could be seen as a privilege but anyone with an internet connection can get on Youtube and learn how to get and stay in shape without any equipment.

    Becoming overweight is is the result of having too much food - now that's privilege.

    Self medicating with fatty and sugary foods due to an unprivileged life situation is a different animal.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    PWHF wrote: »
    I believe people can do what they want with their bodies and life choices. But if you're not happy with your body and life choices it's not the problem of people who have made different life choices....

    imagine if I started attacking people on social media who were posting up pics of them enjoying a drink at a party - because I cant...

    I don't believe anyone has suggested doing this or spoken approvingly of such behavior. To me, such things would be the antithesis of body positivity. So it seems like a strawman.

    IME, accepting yourself despite the imperfections of your body and past eating/exercise choices and NOT feeling shame and self-hatred and out of control, but instead realizing "I can do this" and wanting to do it as a positive thing for yourself was basically tied up with body positivity and what allowed me to make positive changes (in my head I said they were good and worth it whether or not I lost weight) and, indeed, to lose weight.

    The idea that most fat people are sitting around attacking people on social media for being thin is perhaps a fun thing for you to think about, but I don't think it's reality. Plus, people who attack others based on envy are more likely to be suffering from self-hatred than to have a real attitude of positivity.
  • TheBigFb
    TheBigFb Posts: 649 Member
    each too there own. do as you please, but dont come crying when it all goes wrong
  • PWHF
    PWHF Posts: 221 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    PWHF wrote: »
    I believe people can do what they want with their bodies and life choices. But if you're not happy with your body and life choices it's not the problem of people who have made different life choices....

    imagine if I started attacking people on social media who were posting up pics of them enjoying a drink at a party - because I cant...

    I don't believe anyone has suggested doing this or spoken approvingly of such behavior. To me, such things would be the antithesis of body positivity. So it seems like a strawman.

    IME, accepting yourself despite the imperfections of your body and past eating/exercise choices and NOT feeling shame and self-hatred and out of control, but instead realizing "I can do this" and wanting to do it as a positive thing for yourself was basically tied up with body positivity and what allowed me to make positive changes (in my head I said they were good and worth it whether or not I lost weight) and, indeed, to lose weight.

    The idea that most fat people are sitting around attacking people on social media for being thin is perhaps a fun thing for you to think about, but I don't think it's reality. Plus, people who attack others based on envy are more likely to be suffering from self-hatred than to have a real attitude of positivity.

    Think that is meant for @Dolly989

    Dolly989 wrote: »
    Me and my friend were messing around in a jacuzzi in our bikinis on vacation and had it up on our stories on instagram. We got so much hate off people saying stuff like "she loves herself" "get some clothes on" ect. Yet the last few months all over social media I've been seeing bigger women posting pictures posing in underwear/bikinis with long captions about body positivity and self love. These women were being praised while I was being teared down just because we are some peoples standard of beauty dosn't mean we don't have insecurites. I have things I don't like about myself but there I was trying to love myself and my body but that wasn't allowed. The people who were giving us hate would be the same type of people who'd post about body positivity.