GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 Although I agree with the idea of embracing different body types and don’t think we should get down on our bodies, because it’s unproductive, I also think the general movement isn’t helpful at all. I was feeling insecure and annoyed at having stretch marks and the body positive angle was all about calling them beautiful, natural, tiger stripes and all these other positive words. I understand that they are natural and apart of my life, but the idea that some shared that stretch marks are apart of your “story” or whatever honestly made me more depressed. It’s like we have done something wrong to deserve a flaw. I also accept stretch marks but I would be lying if I said I would prefer to have never gotten them. Idk, I’m not really articulating my thoughts well, but does anyone agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State of Grace. Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) Nah, it is very much needed imo. I think there's a difference/a fine line between body positivity and the toxic positivity that people tend to fall for sometimes though. I also have stretch marks on my as$, lower back, and thighs. I have considered them my biggest insecurity for the longest time because I believed that I was the only one having them at my age (this was around HS) and I didn't see anyone having them around me or online (on IG, Tumblr, 🌽, etc). Ironically, I really do love them now and I think they are one of my fave parts about my body. I cant say that the "stretch marks are natural tattoos and tiger stripes!! embrace them <333!!!!" posts online are 100% perfect but they definitely did help a bit. I also just grew up and realized that they're human and ALL guys that I've been woth had them too, so yeah Anyways, all of this to say that the body positivity posts might not mean much when you're feeling like ****, but it's good to have these kind of reminders sometimes imo. Edited September 28, 2023 by State of Grace. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
réveuse Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) Good point but I disagree. I think the positive words help me when trying to love my body. As a woman myself, our bodies get stigmatised a lot whether it's fuller or thinner bodies. I have stretch marks on my upper body and I am growing to love them. (Tbh, I never had major body insecurities besides my skin colour.) Edited September 28, 2023 by réveuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 1 minute ago, State of Grace. said: Nah, it is very much needed imo. I think there's a difference/a fine line between body positivity and the toxic positivity that people tend to fall for sometimes though. I also have stretch marks on my as$, lower back, and thighs. I have considered them my biggest insecurity for the longest because I believed that I was the only one having them at my age (this was around HS) because I didn't see anyone having them around me or online (on IG, Tumblr, 🌽, etc). Ironically, I really do love them now and I think they are one of my fave parts about my body. I cant say that the "stretch marks are natural tattoos and tiger stripes!! embrace them <333!!!!" posts online are 100% perfect but they definitely did help a bit. I also just grew up and realized that they're human and ALL guys that I've been woth had them too, so yeah It’s great to accept yourself, but mine are prominent and I definitely have them in more places than just ass, lower back, and thighs. I would just rather not have them, but then the body positive movement acts like I’m not allowed to just want that you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesus del rey Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 I think we need to stop focusing so much on our bodies from a western beauty standard. It's essential to everyone to realize that the beauty standards that are set are only selling you your self-worth back (via beauty products, etc.) or pushing your psyche to hate your own body so that the later manifestation of this hatred can be profited off of from other areas of your life. Calling your stretch marks your "beauty marks" only strengthens the idea that these things should be of your focus and important on your body (this can be applied to acne, hair loss, etc.), as long as you have a healthy body (again, healthy not in a social sense but in a medical sense) I don't think focusing on these things will do you any favor. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glitch Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 I always preferred the idea of body neutrality. You don't have to love every single thing about yourself and you won't feel amazing about the way you look every single day. But just accepting yourself for the way you are and not hating your body is a much better and more achievable outlook. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State of Grace. Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, GraceRandolph said: It’s great to accept yourself, but mine are prominent and I definitely have them in more places than just ass, lower back, and thighs. I would just rather not have them, but then the body positive movement acts like I’m not allowed to just want that you know? Oop you didnt catch my edit nn. Of course you are allowed to hate your stretch marks or wish that you never had them. The movement is just there to remind you that you aren't alone, that most people also have them, that you can still feel beautiful/sexy/attractive with scars and stretch marks, etc. I personally believe that this makes us less hard on ourselves in the long run. We will never be 100% satisfied with our bodies but we learn to accept and live with the insecurities and "imperfections". Edited September 28, 2023 by State of Grace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Mendes Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) I’m gonna speak on this from the POV of someone who is overweight and has embraced this movement and rejected it sometimes all at once. I think, truly, it can be a double edged sword but that it is mostly a positive not a negative. On the one hand, yes there are certain body types that are not healthy for someone to have. In the west, America especially, this is actually a bit of a health epidemic and it has led to an increase in certain health issues over the years. On the other hand, it is sometimes something that can’t be helped. Some people, especially women, have medical conditions that cause weight gain that is hard to manage and hard to lose. Then you have people whose body “issue” isn’t weight necessarily but maybe large blemishes or birthmarks or injuries etc, and that especially cannot be helped either. The problem is, historically speaking, the response to all of these things despite their different origins tends to be treated the same way: with ridicule. This movement is based in people saying that they just want to feel good with who they are and want to feel beautiful no matter the causes for their atypical appearance. Now for those who’re able to lose weight I think this movement can sometimes—though it is rare—influence them to not start that journey. That’s where I think it can be unhelpful. It sometimes sends a message of acceptance of an issue that can and should be corrected if able. But at the same time, those people deserve to feel comfortable in their own skin as they work on that, and that’s still true even if they don’t or can’t work on it. For people with appearance things they can’t fix, they especially deserve to feel good about who they are. At the end of the day, it’s supposed to encourage people who look different to not hate themselves because of it as that often just makes whatever the issue is worse. It’s not going to make everyone feel good, and that’s to be expected. It may not make you feel good, and that is okay it doesn’t make you strange. But I think in general this movement does help a lot of people find some comfort in who they are and with that comfort comes improvement to their lives. Edited September 28, 2023 by Mr. Mendes 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 1 minute ago, jesus del rey said: I think we need to stop focusing so much on our bodies from a western beauty standard. It's essential to everyone to realize that the beauty standards that are set are only selling you your self-worth back (via beauty products, etc.) or pushing your psyche to hate your own body so that the later manifestation of this hatred can be profited off of from other areas of your life. Calling your stretch marks your "beauty marks" only strengthens the idea that these things should be of your focus and important on your body (this can be applied to acne, hair loss, etc.), as long as you have a healthy body (again, healthy not in a social sense but in a medical sense) I don't think focusing on these things will do you any favor. I understand this argument but until global capitalism crumbles we are all going to be made to feel insecure, and I also think some insecurities and unhappiness around bodies will always exist no matter which cultural ideal or economic system is in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phonography Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 Yeah I think it's better to take the L rather than gaslight yourself into liking something you don't, at least that's what's been useful to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzal Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 It always screams delusion to me. You can't be 300 pounds and healthy. And I feel like maybe 5% of people claiming to be body positive actually love their body, unless they have a snatched body then sure they probably love it. As for stretchmarks, I used to hate mine too but they've faded with time and they're barely visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesus del rey Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 1 minute ago, GraceRandolph said: I understand this argument but until global capitalism crumbles we are all going to be made to feel insecure, and I also think some insecurities and unhappiness around bodies will always exist no matter which cultural ideal or economic system is in place. I don't support waiting for global capitalism to fall off or anything in that sense. I agree that social systems (whether be capitalism or whatever is next) will never leave our bodies to ourselves, this is why these systems are established in the first sense. I think this is a personal journey that you take if you want to, to achieve more control over your body and your autonomy. The other option is feeling trapped between beauty products and pseudo love being showed down your throat - which are different wings of the same bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumbsparce Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) It's all fake and pretentious tbh. It's ok to have insecurities about your body, especially for things that are nearly impossible to get rid of like stretch marks for example. If they could magically disappear, I don't think anyone who has "embraced" them and finds them "beautiful" would still want to keep them. Edited September 28, 2023 by dumbsparce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brunette Ambition Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) Definitely. Body positivity promotes obsession with bodies similarity to „body negativity“, just in the other direction. Obsession is not healthy. It is also hypocritical. The truth is some things are not beautiful. Bodies can also be disgusting and weird, that’s totally normal. Body positivity grifters telling people their stretch marks are brave tiger stripes and that they are beautiful, meanwhile they know damn well it’s ugly. Because when everything is beautiful, nothing is beautiful. It’s just another way to harvest interactions online, only this way it’s with cookie points. The only radical perspective is body neutrality. Taking a body for what it is, without obsessing over its flaws and gaslighting others into following your doctrine that fat rolls are the real epitome of beauty. Everyone has a complicated and unique relationship to their body, which is fine. Forcing people to love their bodies is intrusive. Edited September 28, 2023 by Brunette Ambition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILLIONAIRE✘BOY Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 A.) Accept reality B.) Create a handsome middleman and then accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallucinate Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) i think the idea behind the movement was great but it has been ruined sadly like you have people saying “health at every size” and celebrities (like rebel wilson) getting criticized for losing weight/dieting Edited September 28, 2023 by hallucinate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 3 minutes ago, hallucinate said: i think the idea behind the movement was great but it has been ruined sadly like you have people saying “health at every size” and celebrities (like rebel wilson) getting criticized for losing weight/dieting I’m glad everyone came for Jameela when she tried it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnAnti Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 I’m with genuinely accepting and loving yourself the way you are if that doesn’t create an issue and harm your health Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illuminati Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 Is the body positivity in the room with us right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChapelHooker Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 29 minutes ago, glitch said: I always preferred the idea of body neutrality. You don't have to love every single thing about yourself and you won't feel amazing about the way you look every single day. But just accepting yourself for the way you are and not hating your body is a much better and more achievable outlook. VERY this, which also in turn changes the way you view other bodies as well. we all need to give less of a ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, ChapelHooker said: VERY this, which also in turn changes the way you view other bodies as well. we all need to give less of a ****. I feel like it’s a big ask to expect people to completely change their outlooks on their bodies/insecurities and what they view as attractive or ideal for them. These thoughts are so so ingrained, and if they were easily changed we wouldn’t have a plastic surgery industry. I think we just have to admit that the problem has no solution and insecurity and sadness might just be a constant for some. Edited September 28, 2023 by GraceRandolph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChapelHooker Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 1 minute ago, GraceRandolph said: I feel like it’s a big ask to expect people to completely change their outlooks on their bodies/insecurities and what they view as attractive or ideal for them. These thoughts are so so ingrained, and if they were easily changed we would’ve have a plastic surgery industry. I think we just have to admit that the problem has no solution and insecurity and sadness might just be a constant for some. well, yes of course it is but that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for it. I mean, with this outlook nothing is worth changing really... and all things considered changing how we look at bodies is relatively easy, I mean look at how much it has changed over time (most of the time for the negative), but its something pliable. obviously people are always going to have insecurities, and find certain things attractive, but its how we think about it, approach it and deal with it that has to change. the thoughts are only ingrained because we are raised by multiple outside influences having a huge input into how we view bodies, others and our own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxoonlight Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 There is nothing wrong with liking your body how it is or wanting to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haschwalth Posted September 28, 2023 Share Posted September 28, 2023 yes bc ik damn well they're lying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceRandolph Posted September 28, 2023 Author Share Posted September 28, 2023 20 minutes ago, Haschwalth said: yes bc ik damn well they're lying I feel like the issue is that we are trapped in our bodies and no one wants to admit that they might hate the body they are living in for the rest of their days on this earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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