You Are More Than Your Body
A book review of ‘I Am More Than My Body’ by Bethany C. Meyers
Introducing the concept of “body neutrality”, which steers away from self-hate without the pressure to love your body, Bethany C. Meyers invites readers to reevaluate the societal ingrained bullying surrounding the toxic diet culture of restrictions, limitations, and deprivations.
Instead of just praising the parts of your body that you love and cherish, you are encouraged to instead view your whole body holistically, as a vessel to help you move through the world, instead of a mirror of your self-worth.
I found this new movement refreshing because I too have days where I can’t love my whole body as it is. I’ve found it unrealistic to follow, and embrace the body positivity movement wholly because it is hard to stay positive when you fixate on the one, or two, things about your body that you hope to fix. All of this is in pursuit of learning to love the whole figure based on your perceived, or ingrained, notions of what a “positive” body looks like to you.
I’m not bashing the body positive movement because I love what it has done for many women, men and nonbinary people, in terms of how they can shake the societal tendencies towards Euro-centric beauty in favor of embracing their own unique look. However, I do wish there was more literature on how body positivity has helped, or further hurt, these identified gender communities, as well as those that identify with eating disorders. Perhaps there is a ton of literature on this, but I have yet to come across it.
What I really liked about Bethany C. Meyers book was the personal anecdotes she brought in as she explored a different dimension of the body neutrality concept. For example, she does a great job of addressing the struggles some with prior, and current, eating disorders may have in just trying to view their body as a vessel that moves them, rather than a mirror to what society deems beautiful. It is a very delicate topic to discuss, especially once she brings the discussion to body dysmorphic disorder, which is: “a mental health condition in which you can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that appears minor or can’t be seen by others” (Mayo Clinic).
Note, body dysmorphia may be seen in people with eating disorders, which is why I am discussing it following the mention of eating disorders, but it is a distinctly different issue. The reason I wanted to transition to Bethany C. Meyers’ coverage of body dysmorphia is that it is often overshadowed in discussions of body image and mental health by the eating disorders many do know, such as anorexia and bulimia.
I found Meyers’ time discussing body dysmorphic disorder and the body neutral movement to be a surprising but welcome foray into a new discussion point. When discussing the framework to help the reader practice body neutrality, Meyers makes adjustments for those coming out of an eating or body dysmorphic disorder because she understands that their journey may be different from someone else’s that doesn’t have that prior experience. Ultimately, it is about meeting you, the reader, where you are in your body neutrality journey and helping you get to the finish line, which is honest acceptance.
I understand that this book is meant to focus on the body neutrality movement and not linger too long on what the body positivity movement is and its ripple effects. But, I would have liked to have seen some discussion about any scientific studies on how the body positivity movement has affected body perception and judgement. This would have been a supportive set up to why the body neutrality movement is a more realistic answer to the pervasive culture of beauty ideals and diet culture, but that’s just my opinion.
Overall, I really loved this book, despite the homework it assigned, because it offers an alternative to the body positive movement and acknowledges that there are some days when you are not in love with your body. At the heart of this book is a realistic expectation of how to view your body, which is as a vessel to accomplish things, not a product to be replicated and consumed for others’ eyes. The author treads lightly, and respectfully acknowledges, the difficulties that those with eating disorders have experienced and faithfully addresses this issue without judgement, which I found to be refreshing because the body positive movement doesn’t touch upon this delicate topic in a way that makes someone feel seen and understood. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an alternative way to embrace their body and its service to you.
If you are interested in acquiring this book for your own enjoyment, I would recommend checking out your local library first. If they do not have a copy available, or on order, then I would encourage you to purchase your own copy from your local bookstore or bookshop.org here.
