The Body Positivity Campaign has seemed to have turned into a safety net for maintaining an overweight body. Even though body positivity should be associated with all bodies, it has started to become biased towards those who are overweight. Let me just preface this by saying, yes, everyone should be confident and no one should ever be accosted for their weight or lack there of, but there comes a point where health starts to play a factor in your everyday life. That’s when it should become a cause for concern.
Everyone has the right to love their body; however, I think the Body Positive Campaign has become a way to excuse large amounts of weight gain unhealthy eating and life habits. Before you jump down my throat for saying this, let me tell you more about myself. I’m not a petite person, and I’ve always struggled with feeling confident in my own skin. However, I don’t base my confidence on my body, sure, do I feel better when I’ve been working out and eating healthier? Of course. But my body will never be long and lean, regardless of whether or not I work out everyday. With that being said, let me get back to my point.
In the past couple of years a lot of new “Plus sized” models have surfaced and started their own body positivity campaigns. Ashley Graham blazed the path with her cover shoot for Sports Illustrated and her bathing suit line “Swimsuits For All”. Now popular Instagram personality, and spokesmodel for Aerie, Iskra Lawrence, has started doing work with NEDA, and organization for eating disorders and how to help those recovering from those disorders. These are both great causes and both these women are doing incredible things in their communities, all while inspiring so many women around the world. However, I feel like a lot of people aren’t recognizing that, yes, they might be considered “plus” sized, but they’re still incredibly healthy. It’s no secret that they both work out daily and eat well, with junk food in moderation. This is broadcasted almost every day on both their Instagram and Snapchat stories. With that being said people who turn to these two ladies for inspiration might also be using them as a sort of a safety net for their own personal weight.
More often than not I see women who are posting pictures of themselves saying that they love their curves and that they don’t care what anyone says. Stay with me now. I’m not saying that those women don’t have the right to feel beautiful, because they do, 100 percent, but most times those same women are living unhealthy lifestyles. Basically, all I’m trying to say is that you should love yourself, and by love yourself I mean realize that being curvy and being an unhealthy weight are two different things. There should come a point where you take a good long look in the mirror, so to speak, and make peace with the fact that you need to start living a healthier lifestyle.
This doesn’t make you any less worthy of body confidence. However, I’m just trying to talk about the uncomfortable subject of telling people they should be healthier. If anything, if you struggle with your weight, making a change in your eating habits and small changes in exercise will just make you feel better, no matter if you loose or gain weight while doing it. Exercise shouldn't be something you do as punishment for body but rather something that makes you feel better both physically and emotionally. I feel like that is what the Body Positive Campaign was set up to endorse, but somewhere along the way it veered off into a different direction.
