What is your opinion on the body positivity movement?

Question

TheRealPepperPotts · Accepted Answer

This has a lot of facets to it, actually. This might be a bit lengthy, so grab some popcorn... :D

One is that clothing manufacturers market clothing. Clothing is more attractive on fit, slender women, or fit, moderately muscled men. The model is there to sell clothes, which people will buy if they like how it looks on the model. That doesn't mean it will look good on them, however, which is why we have changing rooms and plus size models and options. Very few styles actually look attractive on someone plus-sized, and it will always sell better if put on a standard model. That's marketing.

Two, weight has been a sore subject for decades. The Boomer generation is particularly fixated on weight over actual health. For example, women over fifty are constantly trying one weight-loss diet or another, talking about how they lost ten pounds and how the new diet is sure to work. The trouble is that they don't actually have all the information and support they need to make progress, so they feel bad and slip into old patterns (skipping meals, eating low or no fat, etc). They then place this burden of weight loss and bad nutritional advice on their daughters, who then pass it down. "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"... It becomes (what feels like) a hopeless battle. That creates sensitivity and deep hurt.

Three, husbands want to eat a certain way, which doesn't matter for his weight because he has more natural muscle, which burns more calories (he's a man). He also has higher testosterone levels in general, meaning that he has more aggression and get-up-and-go. So, he doesn't want to get rid of the pastas and the breads and the potatoes and the sauces and the comfort foods and all that. So she ends up cooking two meals and has temptation everywhere. She is one bag of Cheetos away from crashing her diet, again. But she doesn't have the metabolism or the hormones to burn it off as easily as he can. That's part of being a female.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/438693-a-pound-of-fat-vs-a-pound-of-muscle/

Four, healthy and organic food, which is more nutritious and satisfying, costs money and so do gym memberships and personal trainers. I know this might offend some guys, but health is actually an investment and requires time and money. Many women who get divorced do change their bodies because their husbands wouldn't invest financially in their fitness during the relationship ("You don't need a trainer or a gym. Just eat less..."). It's not always revenge, some dudes just don't get the level of work it takes for a woman to fight back against biology and they think it's "her problem". Women don't understand men's sex drive, and men don't understand women's metabolism, muscle structure, and hormones. Men can go for a run, eat a mostly healthy diet and stay in shape. Women have to work far harder to match his level of fitness. That requires a financial investment.

Phew! :D Almost done...

All that to say, the body positivity movement is a pendulum swinging waaayy over to the opposite side. After decades of judging women's bodies, rather than combating misinformation, corporations (looking at you, McDonald's) and providing better resources for fitness and high-quality food, the people in the ivory tower said "Let's just ignore the health consequences for our healthcare systems and say it's pretty! Yay! That was so easy! Now we get to turn the shaming the opposite direction and force people to say the emperor IS wearing clothes...".

It's heartbreaking and makes me actually angry. It angers me because I know the beautiful potential that both men and women have, but we can't be bothered to care about individuals as a society. It's All. About. Money. I love fitness and I love trying new challenges. I want others to love it as much as I do. It's so exciting to witness someone smash a mental barrier and look at you in shock because they didn't believe it was possible for them.

That's my perspective...

PeachyPie93 · Accepted Answer

I think its fine, its like why do so many people care if people are not skinny? If they die they die. Nobody sits at home not working out and being fat, then says "yes I am healthy and gonna have a long life". You would have to be retarded to think that. They know they are not healthy, they just want to be left alone and allowed to feel good about themselves. Like I think the whore culture is a lot worse for society then fat people walking around. Since those assholes spread aids especially to the more naive people. Like I was just listening to a podcast yesterday and a guy lost his virginity to his girlfriend and she gave him aids, like that is  way   worse then some fat person sitting in their house and dying alone. lol Like someones weight doesn't affect anyone but themselves, so why do so many people care. Like no you shouldn't be morbidly obese but none of the women in those picks look gross, so I don't see the issue besides the fact a lot of men are not attracted to them. Why does it seem to piss men off so much that women don't want to be attractive for you? Get over it.

MisterWack · Accepted Answer

Body positivity and feeling comfortable in one’s skin is a beautiful thing especially for insecure girls, boys, men, and women. I think the movement is beautiful as a whole.

My belief is body positivity is a beautiful thing and the main focus to have individual people acknowledging they’ll never be perfect though they can be the best version of themselves and that is a beautiful thing to teach & educate & share around.

An example would be: I am too skinny, I should go to the gym and pump iron with a trainer / do some squat thrusts too. When you go home, you shouldn’t go “I’ll never be perfect, my life is awful”. With body positivity you go, “I’m getting there and my body is looking really nice today”. It isn’t to say you can’t showcase the flaws, it is about embracing what makes you, you. If you feel you are good then stay the way you are, if you feel like you hate your acne then that is something you can improve on with patches/skin care.

The main focus of body positivity as a whole is you’ll never be perfect though you can still be happy by being the best version of yourself for yourself and that is truly beautiful.

BetaBucks · Accepted Answer

It's deadlier than the Holocaust. Encouraging people to love themselves is great. Part of loving yourself is treating yourself right. Destroying your body is the opposite of that. Encouraging people to keep doing it is some of the weirdest, most sadistic, psycho behavior I've ever seen. Especially as they lie so much and pretend to be acting in good faith.

DishLady · Answer

As with everything, it starts out great and then goes JUST a bit too far. You know that now some medical professionals are avoiding some key assessments in their descriptions of the prognoses for overweight individuals just to avoid being sued.

I'm all for body-positive affirmation... and I do believe that everyone has beauty within them... however it's also asinine to avoid hearing the truth about essential healthy habits (for example) and the real reasons that not everything works for every person.

(Ok, throw the eggs at me now if you want. I need to make an omelet for dinner anyway.)

alice55 · Answer

It's both good and bad, it started because overweight people got a lots of mockery and it's true nobody should have to face harsh statement because oft heir appearance (big, small, ugly, pretty etc...).

But then it went spiraling on praising people body for being literally obese and telling them they're healthy, no fat person is healthy and they shouldn't keep on wanting to be obese, they should lose to get healthier.

After is it still a better movement to praise people for being fat than coming back to the whole shaming of people body if they aren't bony (in the 2000s and early 2010s all women of healthy weight were called fat and cow, only underweight was being praised and this is ways more dangerous to praise underweight than overweight especially since duiring this time any healthy weight person was being accused of being fat).

In the end body positivity is to me better than coming back to bodyshame everyone who isn't underweight / stick thin / bony.

Too in France bodyposity haven't came close at all to praise obese or fat people. It's just mean you can't insult them anymore.

Miristheiss · Answer

The delusion and selfishness of society.

People doing bad things and expecting society to change and not shame it or look down on it.

Women are promiscuous now. Don't dare judge me. You are "slut shaming".

You are fat and unhealthy, have terrible eating habits and never exercise. You are fat shaming me. Don't encourage me to lose weight or eat better.

You are a stripper or prostitute. It is just work. Don't dare shame me for my job, my work is just as valid as any other job.

For the health and good of society certain things should be looked down upon and strongly discouraged.

Levin · Answer

It's not a body positivity movement. It's a fat positivity movement.

I feel uncomfortable getting my body out on a beach as a skinny, 6 packed male who does calisthenics and weighted pullups. I would be a freak of nature because it's quite common for men to have a big gut and about 30kg of extra weight.

40% of Americans are obese and 2/3 are overweight in the UK and US. This is terrible for our health.

I wish our culture was like that of Japan or Korea. The women are actually feminine there.

kylee2437 · Answer

It glosses over the fact that being heavy causes actual problems as you get older, and the more unwilling you are to change it at a younger age, the harder it gets as you get older. And nobody wants to hear this, but I just lost my father back in February due to obesity. He was only 59 years old. Nobody understands how deadly obesity can be.

Kaneki05 · Answer

Everyone has the right to be fat, eat what they want.
But no one has the right to pretend that's healthy.
I don't care what freedom of expression or speech say's it's not healthy therefore ain't.

It's also not a right to shame someone for been fat that's their life choice and it ain't effecting you.
And sure it might effect you once when you get on a plane and have to sit next to someone who is but I say get over it.
Society is full of annoying things that we have to put up with.

mattthefatbat · Answer

I think its time to bring body positivity to guys that are not at "model height" like guys that are under 5'10, I haven't seen or heard much support for them honestly. So this is why I like sites like
https://abbreviated. shop/ www.under510.com/.../shop-clothes-by-height-for-men

PatKirby · Answer

Let's cut to the chase here. The only ones who gained anything were those who capitalized on it for clickbait, advertisements and talk shows who made money off overweight people trying to fool others on a national forum that somehow their unhealthy body is a good thing and should be emulated by others. No doctor would promote maintaining this kind of lifestyle that leads to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and endometrial, breast and colon cancers and eventually cause premature death.

BCA6010 · Answer

When it's promoting unhealthy lifestyles and decisions, which is the overwhelming majority of what it's doing, it's bad.

When it's promoting overcoming an actual physical disability, it's good, yet this aspect seems to have been completely thrown out.

hahahmm · Answer

A mental illness promoted by mentally ill people. I heard it said that if someone is doing anything out ancestors would have laughed at it is a sign of mental illness. But because society is full of mentally ill people now, those of us who aren't ill are considered abnormal. This was predicted in the bible too where it says good will be called evil & evil will be called good in the end days. We are in those times now.

onedarkcloud · Answer

Get a life people who weigh as much as 2 or 3 people need to look at themselves. Not the rest of the world to solve their problem of eating the amount for 3 or 4 people and crying that they don't fit someplace because of themselves being fat. Get over it and lose the weight. Please don't start you don't know what it's like bullshit because I was there and lost 100 lbs. If you are as large as 3 people in size you should pay for the extra seat that your fat takes up, sounds hard but true.

AviatorTom · Answer

THEN: Pushing the notion that everyone should be skinny was wrong.

NOW: Pushing the notion that it's good to be fat and overweight is also wrong.

Just because someone can put an interesting label "Body Positivity" on it doesn't make it good.

loveslongnails · Answer

I think it's a poor choice of "then" photo's for one thing. Should you like your body? That's up to you. Should you tell me it's beautiful because you think it is? Ok, tell me anything you want, but I don't have to agree with you. Personally, I find skinny or fat women in bikini's as unattractive as skinny or fat men in Speedo's.

What I DO agree with is the idea that a person shouldn't let another person's body expectations, or supposed "societal preferences", influence them as a goal they must achieve or feel "less than" good enough.

Razp_Sorbet · Answer

It's good. Bodies look different. We aren't all 6ft tall size 2 B cup models. It's nice to see people of all shapes and sizes modelling clothing, makes me feel like maybe those clothes would actually work for me and I might not have to try on a million things or take a risk buying something online just to have to return it.

Kelly6 · Answer

i don't support it, because it went to wrong direction. people started thinking it means, being overweight and unhealthy is better. it should not promote to be overweight.

Sunnysunny123 · Answer

Body positivity is one thing, trying to normalise fat and unhealthy is another, i am all about body positivity, everyone has different size and shape 50kg does not look the same on everyone just as 80kg doesn't BUT online i have seen that people are trying to justify being fat as "body positivity" and that is no good in any way.

Curmudgeon · Answer

It is AWFUL. However, having watched the "heroin chic" frighteningly emaciated models of the 1990s, was/is this a backlash against that, although it too has clearly gone way too far?

Massageman · Answer

Too many aspects of negativity. Too much like giving a "blank check" to let your body go towards unhealthy ends, just to soothe one's ego/image. Strains the body, strains the medical world, strains the economy, etc al.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

It has taken the completely wrong turn with it. It is one thing to remove stigma of uncontrollable factors like losing limbs in a war but for things like obesity, it should never be promoted at all.

IslaTheWitch · Answer

I think it's important AF for teenagers whose bodies can't reflect current "beauty standards"... but adults should put health over "positivity"

RingOfFire · Answer

I'm fine with people being as positive about their body as they want, nothing wrong with that, it's their right. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not attracted to fat women.

Dongie · Answer

Not sure, not reading but the question. But knowing today I figure it means something like females saying am a fat girl and love me up or I love my body and don't need a man. Maybe I should have read it but I'm in the middle of a fight right now

Sasquach · Answer

I think everyone universally finds beauty in healthy choices and behaviors. Nobody should be praised for eating 13 doughnuts a day - it's disingenuous to market a person's lack of control as sexy.

Shy_Steve · Answer

Nothing is wrong with it. The only problem with it is it doesn't include Men.

Talea · Answer

I think it's getting out of hand.

Yes, be happy with yourself, but lets stop calling morbidly obese healthy, or a good thing.

We should be focusing on HEALTH, not appearance, and "healthy at any size" is a load of crap.

OtterMan68 · Answer

the focus should be on health, not loving your body regardless of your health. If your doctor says you're healthy, THEN you should love your body

dragoblack · Answer

Body positivity is good, glorifying obesity is not.
The good thing about the movement, is that it shows there's more than one bodytype, so being a thicker stocky body types used to be shamed as being fat when its not.
The bad thing about the movement is that it also allowed obease people to glorify their bad habits.
Its ok to find beauty in yourself even when obease, just don't use it as a reason to keep gorging yourself, be lazy, and eat junk food.

_piotr · Answer

The collapse of aesthetics. Promotion of the unhealthy. Pretentiousness. Another degenerated product of wokeness.

worldscolide · Answer

Idiocy, it glorifies morbid obesity and essentially being sick in the favor of feeling good.

genericname85 · Answer

Did you ever hear the term "toxic positivity"? That's what it is.

nastyb · Answer

I think its a good thing.  The haters just hate cus they are secretly frustrated about their own shortcomings. People will always try to shit on others to feel better about themselves

strangeatcircleK · Answer

It's tough. I do like curvy girls but I acknowledge body health too.

Id say body health is most important over appearance.

Stay healthy no matter your dress size

I will still restate that I like curvy women

LiamJHayden · Answer

I think parts of it are fine, like those that kick back against the absurdity of Madison Avenue propaganda. Other parts that de facto celebrate unhealthy life styles are a problem.

OfDeath · Answer

It isn’t needed. Normal people have always accepted average body types. Above average bodies are those valuable to marketing. Not sure why people started kicking up a stink over it.

Amur8711 · Answer

It's gotten out of hand where they are pushing being unhealthy is OK

Dargil · Answer

I don't have to agree. Believe what you wish.

Friendlybro79 · Answer

I don't think about it. It's just advertising to avg looking people. Who cares?

GeminiDiamond · Answer

I think it's great. It shows women to be positive about their body.

thomastown · Answer

It's pretty outdated, it's been going on since the 1990s.

impalabill77 · Answer

You go girl. All bodies are get. My girlfriend is a bigger girl and she is a lot nicer then my skinny ex.

foxsquirrell · Answer

I don't know what body positive movement means.  I would be great if you could explain that first in the update.

Malwi93 · Answer

what should i think? everybody should look like they want. i dont find models necessarily superior and reverse

handsomelad70 · Answer

Total BS. We are supposed to nearly (?) worship fat broads because they're, well, fat broads.

bannacookies · Answer

Not good. It glorifies obesity which is unhealthy.

Taylor_C · Answer

A health hazard

DrPepper12 · Answer

Im cool with it. Representation matters.

Pohjolan · Answer

I think ozempic will be the end of it.

Luckycharms12 · Answer

Load of shit.

WilliamPamer446 · Answer

Nuance

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