Reforming and Reframing: The New ‘Body Positivity’ as a Social Justice Movement
Last night, or more specifically, in the wee hours this morning, I completed the annual @iaedp #iaedp2020 symposium- the first-ever virtual edition of the conference (thanks, covid-19,) and also, the best quality content I’ve seen produced in eight years as a member. The most impactful modules of the conference were relevant and very timely presentations related to social justice, inclusion, representation, and diversity in the treatment of eating disorders.
When I first started in this field, I was ignorant of the history of diet culture and the body-positivity movement’s roots in anti-blackness. A deep dive into the topic of body liberation has revealed the long-standing history of racial discrimination in the body-positivity movement.
In 2019, body positivity became very topical, with the emergence of Lizzo, statements by Jonathan Van Ness and Sam Smith, celebrities saying no to photoshopping and questions about their weight, Rihanna’s lingerie line, Savage X, and Taylor Swift speaking out about “retraining her brain to accept [her] body every day,” to name just a few. 2020 is asking us to look within and challenge where our societal standards of beauty originated, and how deeply entangled they are in antiblack cultural undertones.
Here’s the thing. Body-positivity is more than a candy-coated buzz phrase. Body positivity is a social movement that promotes positivity around your individual viewpoint of your physical body, advocates that all bodies are valid, and rejects the societal injunction that those who deviate from the status quo are undeserving of love and appreciation. Body positivity does NOT mean that a person loves their body all the time, is 100% comfortable in their body, or does not wish to improve their body. Body positivity IS the daily mental and physical work of honoring your body as it currently is, because you are a living, breathing creature deserving of dignity and respect, and that must begin from within.
I believe it goes without saying that there is no liberation for ALL bodies without the liberation of marginalized bodies, including Black women.
We at LIFT have been asking ourselves this week what our role looks like in supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement. In listening to our Black colleagues and friends, this much has been made clear: dismantling fatphobia, and discrimination against all marginalized bodies, is an integral part of our contribution.
A question to reflect upon, today: Am I really ‘body positive’ if I harbor oppressive anti-fat or anti-Black sentiments in my psyche?
There are many still much more knowledgeable and informed than I on this topic, and I encourage you to follow their work, as I am continually educated by their content and contributions to the field. Please read: “Fearing the black body: the racial origins of fat phobia,” by Sabrina Strings, and start by following on Instagram: @thebodypositive, @encouragingdietitian, @la_eathority. In honor of Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, George Floyd, and countless other victims of systemic racism and injustice, we humbly commit to learning, listening, knowing better, doing better, and doing our part, today, and every day going forward.
“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And, it’s the only way forward.” -Ijeoma Oluo
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” - Desmond Tutu
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
