Body positivity

The sculpture of two women in bronze, Jag tänker på mig själv – Växjö ( 'I am thinking of myself – Växjö') by Marianne Lindberg De Geer, 2005, outside of the art museum of Växjö, Sweden.[1][2] It depicts one thin woman and one fat woman and demonstrates society's infatuation with outward appearances. The sculpture has been a source of controversy in town, with both statues being vandalized and repaired during 2006.[3]

Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities.[4] Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instead of its physical appearance.[5]

While body positivity has been connected to a number of beneficial effects on both the individual and societal level—not least concerning its modern-day branches in digital and social media[6]—critical scholars have also warned that, in practice, the concept still suffers from a strong focus on physical attributes and self-objectification.[7] Accordingly, the concept of body neutrality has been suggested as a theoretical update, strictly disregarding the discussion of physicality in favor of size inclusivity and self-care.[8]

  1. ^ "Bronskvinnorna" [The bronze women]. Vaxjo.se.
  2. ^ "Obesity over time". OpenLearn.
  3. ^ Roxvall, Anna (30 November 2006). "Skulpturer rör upp känslor i Växjö" [Sculptures stir emotions in Växjö]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish).
  4. ^ Leboeuf, Celine (2019). "What Is Body Positivity?: The Path from Shame to Pride". Philosophical Topics. 47 (2): 113–127. doi:10.5840/philtopics201947218. JSTOR 26948109.
  5. ^ Sastre, Alexandra (2 November 2014). "Towards a Radical Body Positive: Reading the online 'body positive movement'". Feminist Media Studies. 14 (6): 929–943. doi:10.1080/14680777.2014.883420. S2CID 142818167.
  6. ^ Cohen, Rachel; Newton-John, Toby; Slater, Amy (2021). "The case for body positivity on social media: Perspectives on current advances and future directions". Journal of Health Psychology. 26 (13): 2365–2373. doi:10.1177/1359105320912450. ISSN 1359-1053.
  7. ^ Aubrey, Jennifer Stevens; Zeng, Jiaqi; Saha, Kausumi; Gahler, Heather; Dajches, Leah (2024). "The body positive… or the body neutral? A content analysis of body positivity and body neutrality hashtagged videos on TikTok". Body Image. 50: 101737. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101737.
  8. ^ Sreenivas, Shishira. "What Is Body Neutrality?". WebMD. Retrieved 2023-09-14.