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Why is body positivity important?

June 14, 2017 by Steph Leave a Comment

So I get asked this question a lot. I’m going to give you my answer, but please formulate your own answer to this question. I can’t tell you why body positivity is important for you; I can only share why it’s important to me.

First, body positivity frees us all to stop hating ourselves because we don’t look a certain way or have a certain shape or take up a certain amount of space. That freedom leads to other ideas like being allowed to dress in a way that makes me feel good versus what others might or might not like. It allows me to stop expending my mental currency on “OMG what am I gonna do about being so fat?!” and expend it on worthwhile causes instead.

It stops me from being judgmental about other people’s choices in clothing or makeup or hair. I realized everyone is allowed to do what they like, and socially acceptable beauty isn’t rent we women need to pay for existing. That was incredibly freeing. The realization we are all allowed to simply exist was life-changing, no exaggeration.

I realized everyone is allowed to do what they like, and socially acceptable beauty isn't rent we women need to pay for existing.Click To Tweet

Body positivity and size acceptance were my first introduction to activism of any kind. Without the size acceptance movement, I don’t know that I’d have been able to move on to learning more about things like intersectional feminism, white privilege, etc. I think I might have stayed in my little cocoon of ignorance. Recognizing oppressive behaviors re: body positivity has led to me recognizing oppressive behaviors in other areas. That can only be beneficial, right?

Last, being body positive has given me the confidence to get up every day and share my voice with the world without having to deal with a lot of “OMG I’m such a mess/I look awful/I’m so gross” or whatever other garbage excuses I used to use to keep myself from spreading the word about learning to love yourself.

Your turn – why is body positivity important to you?

Filed Under: Self Acceptance Tagged With: body positivity, love yourself

So WTF is size acceptance anyway?

March 31, 2017 by Steph Leave a Comment

If you’ve been reading my blog or watching my Periscopes, you’ve heard me use the term “size acceptance,” and you’ve probably used your context clues to figure out it means just what you think – accepting your body at whatever size it’s in currently. Actually, it’s accepting everyone’s bodies as they are. Seems easy enough; right? It certainly should be, but in a culture fraught with all kinds of bullshit in regards to weight, there’s a lot of baggage to unpack here.

So first and foremost, let’s just talk basics, shall we? Size acceptance means exactly that; accepting that people come in all shapes and sizes and that those shapes and sizes are all valid and beautiful. The best analogy I’ve ever read is the one which asks us to think about human bodies the way we think about dog bodies. I mean, we don’t ask Chihuahuas and St. Bernards to be the same size and shape, right? Same principle here.

Another component is identifying body shaming and calling it out. A good example is a tagline I saw the other day: “If you can’t see your wiener, it’s time to get leaner.” It’s catchy, innit? But here’s the thing – it’s trying to make fat guys feel bad so they’ll buy a product. (I mean, I wanted gender equality; I just hoped they’d bring women up instead of putting guys down.) When you try to make someone feel bad about their appearance, that’s just adding into the culture of no one’s body ever being good enough. (And let’s be real – skinny dudes have tiny wingdings, too. So what are they supposed to do?) We all have to work together to squash it.

I want to add a caveat right now because I think it’s important. We have to respect each others’ right to choose our own adventures (if you don’t immediately think of that book series, then you need to stop reading this and go find one of those books right now). If you want to attempt weight loss or have plastic surgery or WHATEVER, that’s your choice. I’m going to respect your right to make those choices. I am not the boss of you. Conversely, I’m allowed to talk about why I think dieting is problematic or why I think we need more thin allies to be actual allies or how intersectionality works.

So, there’s the intro to size acceptance. It’s extremely basic, but it starts the conversation, I think. So, what are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Self Acceptance Tagged With: be nice to each other, be nice to yourself, body positivity, love yourself

Hi, I’m Steph!

I'm reading books (mostly) from Kindle Unlimited so you don't have to...unless they're awesome and well-worth your valuable reading time.

You're welcome. 😂

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