"Body positivity" has become silly marketing, a completely different way of "evaluating" the body is growing in popularity
Body positivity was a step towards encouraging women to start celebrating their bodies. However, everyone began to approach the concept in their own way. Some then came to the conclusion that you can only celebrate the body if it is scantily clad, perhaps in the classic "if you've got it, show it" motto. The only thing that emerged in the end, however, was that there was not really much inclusion in body positivity. In practical terms, one could say that what used to be a sign of pride with regard to how one looks has now paradoxically begun to exclude many people from the "battle" for body positivity. And that is why body neutrality was born.
The term body neutrality first appeared in the online space in 2015. Subsequently, it took on a pretty clear form - while one should accept one's body, one should focus on the good that the body itself can do (and thus not on appearance). How to do it? For example, it is not important that your arms/legs are big, but that they are strong. The most important thing about body neutrality, then, is that it is certainly not the intention to adore yourself 24/7 - and there is no need to "beat yourself up" for the fact that sometimes, for example, your big (albeit strong) feet make life difficult. After all, everybody just has a day when they can't stand themselves, and it's in those exact moments that it's just very difficult to stick to the "love yourself" line at all costs. Human nature is such that it forces us to do the exact opposite.
With body positivity, however, it's a different story. Indeed, according to Time magazine, the whole movement started in the US in the 1960s with the sole aim of enabling overweight people to love themselves and change the perception of the term 'fat'. In the online world, the path seemed to be the same at first, but things eventually shifted and body positivity became a literal buzz word, a trend word that virtually everyone began to embrace, except those for whom it was originally intended. "To be truly body positive today, you should be acceptably fat, no bigger than a size 16, white skinned, or very pretty," sums up today's requirements, according to Stephanie Yeboah, one of the bloggers who covers body positivity.
Simply put, the concept of body positivity has literally shrunk down to a single type of "acceptable body" that, again, fits certain criteria. This is also why body neutrality is a more appropriate solution that goes more in depth - it no longer works with a black and white perception of whether one loves or hates their body, but simply tries to find a certain balance and provides a platform for true acceptance, regardless of boxes and parameters. This is also why body neutrality is a great option for people with any physical disability. In fact, it is they who are often literally frustrated by the basic requirement of "body positivity" - that is, loving your body.
And many celebrities are already starting to embrace the body neutrality trend - a literal avalanche of interest in the topic was triggered by Jameela Jamil when she shared a social media post by writer Anushka Reese, who is the author of Beyond Beautiful, a "body neutral survival guide". She added that she was not trying to spread body positivity, but body neutrality - it is the only way a person can be who they are and not think about how their body looks.
So how to do body neutrality in practice? Bodies - female or male - do not need to be evaluated or commented on any more. Therefore, there is no point in proclaiming to the world, "I love how I look, regardless of what others think of me." The correct path is one that leads in a completely different direction - for the underlying philosophy should be, "I love what I think of myself and my body, regardless of how I look." And that's exactly how you can be yourself.
