Exploring Body Positivity, Body Neutrality & Body Liberation
What’s the difference?
If you have ventured into the anti-diet space at all (and I am sure you have, since you find yourself here, reading this blog), you have most likely heard the terms Body Positivity, Body Neutrality, and maybe even Body Liberation. At times these terms are used interchangeably with each other or their meanings have been lumped together in the Body Image space. While all of these terms do lend themselves to being part of the body image space, they all have very different meanings and frameworks. I thought it may be time for us to talk about some of the similarities and differences between these terminologies.
For many of us, one of the proverbial first toes we dip into the anti-diet waters may be learning more about Body Positivity. One research article talked about how “[b]ody positivity challenges the unrealistic standards of beauty present in the media by the promotion and acceptance of diverse body sizes and appearances.”¹ The body positivity movement first emerged in the 1960’s as part of the group of radical movements of fat acceptance and liberation.² The term Body Positivity was co-opted in 2012 and more closely resembles what we have come to know this movement to mean. In its current form, Body Positivity was born out of the desire to push back against the unattainable and ever changing beauty standards laid out for mostly female identifying folks. For many, this was a necessary movement to begin the conversation about how sometimes the standards in society, while the dominant belief, may not be in our best interest.
As this movement gained momentum, we saw many advertisements, social media influencers and celebrities hopping on this bandwagon and this seemed to be the answer to the question “ What do I do next if I choose to stop trying to change my body?” The body positive answer being: Just. Love. Your. Body! This movement was so important for many people to begin to think about their bodies in ways that were different from continually trying to control and change them, but in hindsight, there are some fundamental flaws in the body positivity movement that cannot be ignored. It may feel unattainable for many to go from hating our bodies to loving them, just by saying that we do, and this idea continues to feel exclusionary for many people. Body positivity also seems to be missing the mark because ‘love our bodies’ is a continuation of focusing on our physical appearance, without shifting internally in a meaningful way. In this way the body positivity movement can feel limiting. There is also the additional and damaging downside of leaving behind people who live within various intersections and with varying degrees of marginalization, who really do not see themselves reflected in this movement at all.
Body positivity also seems to be missing the mark because ‘love our bodies’ is a continuation of focusing on our physical appearance, without shifting internally in a meaningful way.
Enter Body Neutrality. “Body neutrality has emerged as a distinct alternative to body positivity, popularized in 2015 by Anne Poirier, who defined it as “Not supporting the hatred of our vessel (our physical structure) or the love and adoration of our vessel””³. Working toward a neutral attitude about our bodies certainly seems to be an easier leap for many who just are not ready or able to love their body in the way that body positivity is requiring of us. The vibe is less toxic positivity and more body functionality, care and respect. It is a way to acknowledge that our bodies are worthy of care and respect, independent of our body image. While this concept is so, so important and one that all of us at TNC discuss with our clients almost daily, body neutrality also has its own set of limitations. This movement still only addresses our external bodies, even if it is in a way that feels more like love, kindness and compassion.
Both the body positivity movement and body neutrality movement focus on what we as individuals can do to support us to feel at ease in our bodies. Again, this discussion is so necessary when our goals are pointing us toward allowing ease with food and our bodies. Both of these movements, however, miss the mark on speaking to the ways in which we are being asked to do this work on an individual level, when it is our current systems that we have in place that created and encouraged the discourse we feel about food and bodies to happen in the first place. Quite frankly, it is not fair. We did not create this mess (our external societal and therefore internalised beliefs about food and bodies) but the onus is being placed squarely on our already burdened shoulders by society as an “us problem” to clean up.
While we can aim to have a more neutral view of our own bodies, within our society, bodies are anything but neutral; they are loaded with assumptions about our perceived moral virtue or moral failings, depending on the body we have. These assumptions arise from the unconscious biases we have about bodies, which are then brought with us into rooms where policies are being created. It is because of these assumptions and biases that we need a framework that moves away from the individual and toward the collective.
This is where Body Liberation, or more specifically, Fat Liberation comes in. The Centre for Health and Wellbeing at the University of Vermont defines Body Liberation as “the freedom from social and political systems of oppression that designate certain bodies as more worthy, healthy, and desirable than others.”⁴ Many of us in this space are aware of the dominant societal belief that thinness equates to health, and by moral extension, worth or superiority. What Body Liberation does that both Body Positivity and Body Neutrality miss the mark on, is having those conversations that hold the societal beliefs (and the systems that uphold them) to account, rather than the individual. You can think of it as advocating for larger seats in a waiting room rather than asking the person to shrink to fit the chairs provided. What may be lesser known in this space (especially those who are in white, able-bodied, cisgender, and thin bodies) is how our society disproportionately oppresses people in larger bodies, people who identify as fat, people living with disabilities, 2SLGBTQAI+ folx, and people of colour by telling them in subtle ways that they do not belong. The waiting room chair example above is a simple depiction, as is being able to shop for clothes you like in-store rather than just online. A more nuanced example is being able to go in to see your doctor for an earache without having the talk about eating less and moving more to lose weight, even if they have not assessed eating or activity. This experience may contribute to people in larger bodies avoiding seeking medical care when needed.
Our work with our clients is inherently advocacy work because all of us at TNC understand the need to address how we can support our clients to heal from the individual internalised beliefs about bodies they now hold and simultaneously work toward dismantling the systems that created those beliefs in the first place. This work needs to be both/and in order to fully address and hold space for all of the reasons a person may be struggling with their food and body relationship.
Body Positivity is a great first step to the understanding that there is an alternative to striving to change our bodies, and it can only get us so far. Body Neutrality and Body Liberation together are necessary to address both the internalized beliefs we all have about food and bodies while holding society accountable for the creating, perpetuating and weaving these beliefs into the very fabric of the systems we all interact with daily.
Interested in learning more? The resources below can get you started
How to Shift from ‘Body Positivity’ to ‘Body Neutrality’ | A quick read article that does a deeper dive into the similarities and differences of Body Positivity and Body Neutrality
Are you Really Body Positive? | An informative article that makes the connection between fat oppression within our current policies and it’s racist roots
What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat - Book by Aubrey Gordon | A really great, plain language read that talks about the challenges that are unique to people in larger bodies and fat identifying folx when interacting with our inherently fat-phobic policies and societal systems
We Have to Stop Thinking of Being ‘Healthy’ as Being Morally Better | A quick read article that looks at how ‘Health’ as a moral virtue can actually be harmful to all of us
More Than a Body: Your body is an instrument not an ornament - Book by Lindsay and Lexie Kite | An easy read that is rich in nuance, this book takes a look at shifting our perspectives from bodies as objects to be looked at to instruments to help us live full and joyful lives.
Written by Erin Nelson, RD
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