If we really wanted to be a body-positive society and rise against shame, judgment, and objectification, then we would not hold anyone’s body shape as an ideal or problem.

Nor would we shame someone for changing their shape or form from an ideal or otherwise.

No matter if we are a man or a woman, the only constant in life is change. We are all born with a body, and this body will evolve due to lifestyle factors, health, and our own choices. But when we always bring our attention to the body’s appearance and clothes, we lose our power and again get stuck in a construct of ideals, falling into shame or judgment.

This again creates a loss of self-worth by focusing on our appearance rather than focusing on the fact that we are more than a body or the clothes we wear.

No one person at birth said, “Give me this body”—this body is given to us as a tool to experience the physical world.

We cannot heal our own body image by judging, shaming, objectifying, or pedestaling other bodies—no matter if they are similar to ours or not. No matter if they make us feel less alone or if they are different than the ideal we desire.

We heal ourselves and create self-love by seeing the value in ourselves, in our own bodies, and in others, just as we/they are.

Being body positive and having a good self-image is not about appearance. It is not about whether we are approved by society. It is about being human and reclaiming ourselves from within. It is about remembering we are more than a body.

Humans come in all shapes and sizes.

To be body positive is about prioritising our experience inside of us over our looks and the looks of others. It is about seeing our value and not comparing ourselves to another body that we were never born to have and never will have.

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Relephant: For the Women who know Beauty Standards are Bullsh*t, but Still Can’t love Themselves.