Today, when so much of our social interaction is online, there is a strange crudity that has crept into our conversations. People fat-shame others; they also thin-shame people. They humiliate and belittle people for looking a certain way. In the face of problems that this can cause, there is a welcome trend of body positivity and of body acceptance. So what is body acceptance? Does it encourage people to accept being overweight and unhealthy?
What is body acceptance?
Some of us are tall, some of us are short. Some are big boned and some are petite. Each of us is also genetically predisposed to carry more or less weight. In other words, each of us is unique and unlike any other person. Also there is no single understanding of what it means to be beautiful or attractive. The world has a wonderful array of people – of different colors, ethnicities, races, and each individual is beautiful in their own way. Body acceptance is about embracing ourselves as we are – as nature meant us to be without trying to become like others that we see around us or in the media. Body acceptance is also about accepting others as they are without preconceived notions or expectations.
There is another reason why body positivity is important. According to psychologists, a negative body image can lead to problems such as depression and anxiety, as well as eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Body acceptance also addresses the problem of body shaming that men face; an often overlooked aspect of this issue. As women face social pressures, so do men. There are unrealistic expectations of the ‘ideal’ beautiful woman as also the ideal masculine man. So, the idea behind body acceptance is to learn to love oneself and not to feel the pressure to model oneself after anyone else. The yogic concept of acceptance is also the same. Body acceptance is a part of self-love and self-care; both important for our emotional wellbeing.
Isn’t body acceptance unhealthy?
Body acceptance doesn’t mean you never strive to change. It doesn’t mean that a person should stop exercising or eat any amount of unhealthy things. Body acceptance is about accepting that each one of us is different. It is about not trying to be like anyone else and not feeling discouraged about our own personal reality. It is about not holding ourselves up to some unrealistic ‘standard’ or ‘ideal’, which may be quite unrealistic and unachievable.
Body acceptance is about learning to accept our own reality, while at the same time trying to be the best that we can be. Each of us has to have the aim to be fit and healthy. While some of us may be able to run a marathon, others can perform the most complex yoga aasans. So while our abilities may all be quite different, each of us must strive to achieve our own personal benchmark of excellence.
What is important is to be as healthy and fit as possible, while accepting that X will never be able to look like Y or Z. It is important to be comfortable in our own skins and to work towards being the best versions of our own selves; not a poor copy of someone else!