Before this article even begins, I am against body shaming, and I am for the original purpose of the body positivity movement, but times have changed, and the movement is no longer positive.
Hate vs. Hate
As a fat girl, I have experienced my fair share of hateful comments. I was miserable because I let those comments keep coming at me, with the intention that I would learn something by those comments. I would let things eat me away, and I began fighting fire with fire. I would insult anyone that looked at me the wrong way, figuring if I say something first they would leave me alone. That is what the movement has come to. People are shaming those who are not thick, chubby, curvy, overweight, obese, or whatever word you want to use to describe fat. Let me clarify that my use of fat is not insulting. Fat is not insulting, fat is what is in our bodies. Fat is a description word that we have turned overtime to have negativity coming out of it.
How we have trained to think of the word fat is how we are training those who are slimmer to think of themselves, but as skinny. Using derogatory terms such as too thin, skinny, stick-like, anorexic, and all the other terms we use to talk poorly of those who are slimmer are just as insulting as calling someone "fat".
This is what the Body Positive Movement has become. It has become fighting hate with hate. Doing so is causing everyone to feel defensive, creating more hate. All this hate is tearing us down, when we should be building ourselves up.
I Am Not Body Positive
I do not want to label myself as a member of the movement that brings others down. Maybe one day the movement will find it's way back to where it originated, but until then, I want no part of it. It was meant celebrate the differences in everyone's appearance, and there are no celebrations anymore. I am positive about the difference in bodies, but I am not body positive.
