We all might have probably heard or seen the phrase ‘Body Positivity” revolving around a lot lately in magazines, articles and Social platforms.
What does it mean anyway?
According to Mallorie Dunn (founder of the body positive fashion line Smart Glamour)Body Positivity means accepting the body you have as well as the changes in shape, size, and ability it may undergo due to nature, age, or your own personal choices throughout your lifetime. It’s the understanding that your worth and what’s going on with you physically are two separate entities — that no matter what’s happening inside, outside, or to your body, you’re still just as worthwhile as the person next to you.
In other terms its obliviating the idea that only certain bodies are worth acceptance and praise and instead recognising that bodies are equally valuable.
We humans are so driven by the fact that we need to be thin, skinny, sleek and fit to look perfect all the time, we always have seemed to understand that according to most of the society, smaller is better. We take immense pressure and effort in attaining the so called ‘Perfect body. But why do we do it?? Why can’t we accept ourselves as what we are?? Why do we get so in-secured of our ownselves own body?? Why do we get so influenced with the society around us.
When we ask these questions to ourselves, we realise that we don’t have a proper answer to it. We do it because everyone is doing it. We tend to miss the fact that its completely normal and okay to have a fat composition and to accept things like cellulites on our belly and thighs, our stretch marks etc. This is quite natural, and it makes us US. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that we need to quit workouts, we can eat junks and so on. Its important to be healthy as well.
Body Positivity is for the people of any size and It is absolutelynot restricted to just the women crowd. Its for the people of any gender.
We always think that body positivity is only for the plus sizes, Certainly not, its for all sizes and shapes. It’s the matter of embracing your flaws.
How do we become body positive??
- Learning to appreciate your unique body
- Being comfortable in your own skin.
- Valuing ourselves and believing that other see you as you see urself.
- A positive attitude towards your body, accepting our flaws and embracing it.
- Avoiding below three negative attitudes
- Perfectionism – holding high standards that are highly impoosible to achieve,
- Comparison – Comparing ourselves with others especially with social platforms
- Being highly criticial or judgemental of ourselves.
According to NEDC (National Eating Disorders Collaboration) body image isn’t just about one dimension, but is made of four aspects.
- Perceptual body image: how you see your body
- Affective body image: how you feel about your body
- Cognitive body image: how you think about your body
- Behavioral body image: the way you behave as a result of your perceptual, affective, and cognitive body image (NEDC, 2017)
When you have a positive body image you are able to accept, appreciate and respect your body, you will be able to acknowledge any insecurities for what they are and believe that your body is perfect for you.
We as image consultants should take a genuine effort in educating our clients that how important it is to have a positive body image as we have the tools with us. We should make them realise that its okay to be normal and natural rather than being extra ordinary. We should strongly make them feel that there is nothing called as Perfectionism in this world, we all have flaws just that we need to accept it and live a comfortable life with ourselves. We should tell our prospects that we are there to help them look even more better and enhance the appearance by dressing up their shape. As a consultant we should give them confidence to stay positive and pave them a way to come out of their low body image.