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The rise of the body neutrality movement: ‘If you’re fat, you don’t have to hate yourself’
Instead of emphasising the need to love how you look, concepts such as body neutrality, fat acceptance and body respect are allowing women to make peace with their bodies
When Stephanie Yeboah was 12 years old, she was put on a diet and began restricting herself to
300 calories a day. People told her she would be so pretty, if only she could lose weight. By her early
20s, a preoccupation with counting calories had led to a devastating pattern of disordered eating. She
was bulimic, but, she says, she did not recognise it because her body shape hadn’t changed and society
[5] had made it clear: “Fat people don’t have eating disorders; if they did they wouldn’t be fat.”
It wasn’t until she discovered body positivity in 2014 that Yeboah found an alternative to self-
loathing and depression. Body positivity first emerged in the US in the 60s to raise awareness of the
barriers faced by fat people (and as a result, the word “fat” was reclaimed as a descriptor rather than
insult).
[10] In the social media era, it was reignited by women of colour – bloggers such as Gabi
Gregg posted images of fat women in bikinis that were soon picked up by feminist sites, and the
movement spread to the UK. For Yeboah, it changed her life. She became an influential writer and plus-
size blogger.
Yet, as body positivity grew in popularity, women of colour, women with disabilities and
[15] transwomen, were pushed from the spotlight by a more conventional beauty ideal. White women, with
hour-glass figures, often no bigger than a size 16, were described as radical role models. Meanwhile,
on Instagram, fitness instructors with tiny, sculpted waists hashtagged their workout posts
#bodypositivity.
Many former followers now feel the movement has been co-opted. Yeboah is one. “It has
[20] become a buzzword, it has alienated the very people who created it. Now, in order to be body positive,
you must be acceptably fat – size 16 and under, or white or very pretty. It’s not a movement that I feel
represents me any more.”
New ideas began to circulate, including an interest in “body neutrality” – a concept pitched at
those who find loving their bodies a step too far, and instead seek simply to find peace with them. For
[25] writer Rebekah Taussig, the appeal is understandable. “The body positive movement doesn’t put people
with disabilities and other marginalised bodies into the foreground. Body neutrality, I think, has the
power to be really useful in particular to people with disabilities, especially those with chronic pain or
people with diagnoses that are progressive. Those people are pretty frustrated with the demand to love
their bodies when they feel betrayed by them. Being neutral could feel like a relief.”
[30] Yeboah has now embraced a new approach: “fat acceptance”. “If this movement had been called
fat acceptance in the first place, none of these people would have jumped on it because it’s got the word
‘fat’ in it. Fat can still be associated with ugly,” she says. “It’s very easy to say we shouldn’t concentrate
on our bodies, but for some of us we have no choice, because everyone else is. Growing up, there
weren’t fat black people on film, you never saw them being the object of desire, or playing the lead
[35] role.
One of the biggest criticisms that Yeboah and others face is health. She says it is a tool to
legitimise fat phobia, rather than a genuine concern about bigger bodies and health. “The only time I’ve
been admitted to hospital because of my weight was because I was beaten up for being fat,” she says,
referring to an assault for which the perpetrators were convicted. “We’re not promoting obesity, or
[40] telling people to be fat, we’re just saying, if you’re fat you don’t have to hate yourself.”
“I’m someone who has played a part in the misconception [of body positivity]. I hold my hands
up, I should have been more political from the start, and made more of a distinction between body
positivity and body confidence, because they are not the same.
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jul/23/the-rise-of-the-body-neutrality-movement-if-youre-fatyou-dont-have-to-hate-yourself. Access on: 2 Apr. 2019. Adapted.
Which of the following sentences is CORRECT according to the text?
