How to Be Body Positive Without Being Ableist
It’s time to rethink our body positive tips.
As an advocate for body positivity and eating disorder recovery, I’m very familiar with the tips people share to help others love and appreciate their bodies.
“Body positivity” is a buzzword we hear in contrast to the even-more-pervasive diet culture buzzwords. It’s thrown around without full comprehension; there’s a lot of misunderstandings about what body positivity and health really entail.
But here’s the truth: Body positivity is not just for thin, white women. Body positivity must be intersectional and rooted in social justice.
Bodies and health are policed and have roots in sexism, racism, ableism and classism. The creators of diets are white men and the patriarchy limits women, saying they aren’t allowed to have body hair, piercings or tattoos. For black women, being fat is correlated with racial inferiority and savagery. People who live in larger bodies are often misdiagnosed, and accessing a wide variety of foods isn’t always doable for people who are low-income or live in food deserts.
Further, the body positive movement came from the fat acceptance movement which pushes for representation and respect over implicit bias. It’s not just for people who “look” healthy or thin.
