Three Body Liberation Rules To Remember If You’re Feeling Bad About Your Body
Today let’s talk about body liberation rules. I think that the combined influences of the beauty industry, fashion industry, plastic surgeons, and society’s fatphobic indoctrination has led us to a place where almost no one is happy with their body.
An Ipsos Mori study in 2021 found that 45% of the world’s population was trying to lose weight! That’s almost half. This figure is even worse in Chile; it’s 60%. The picture isn’t much better in the USA, Peru, Spain, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, where it’s at more than 50%.
It’s also too much to hope that all these people will be trying to lose weight safely. Unfortunately, many unsafe and even dangerous diets are touted as the next miracle cure. It must end.
I am all for eating a healthy, balanced diet and moving your body in a way you enjoy. Honestly, I am. However, I also believe for the world’s mental health and that of generations to come, we must move away from this obsession with looks.
So, if you’re struggling with the way you look and it’s hurting you, check out the body liberation rules. (Of course, they’re not actually rules, more like guidelines. Find the ones that work for you)
Rule One: You Are More Than Your Body
If we fast forward to your funeral, do you think the mourners will be waxing lyrical about your thigh gap or how flat your tummy was in your eulogy? No! They’ll talk about how you made them laugh, how kind you were, how much you loved your family, and so on.
One of the things that I love about body liberation is that it takes the focus away from how we look. If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this. YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN HOW YOU LOOK! You are a wonderful person and have many traits you should love about yourself.
Here’s a bit of homework for you. Go away, get a piece of paper and write down everything you like about yourself that has nothing to do with looks. I’m not saying there aren’t parts of your body you don’t like, but the point is to remind yourself of who you are as a person. If it helps, you can even hang this up somewhere you’ll see it every day for a quick boost to your self-esteem.
Rule Two – Your Self-Worth Should Not Be Tied To Your Body
It’s a sad fact that women learn, almost from birth, that their most vital mission in life is to be pretty. It doesn’t matter what else you do or achieve if you’re not pretty, you’ve failed. Although dissatisfaction with appearance is spreading to men, their exposure has been nowhere near as long and relentless as it has for women.
This ties in to rule one. The acceptable standard of beauty nowadays is dieted, airbrushed and plastic surgeried to hell. It is utterly unattainable for 95% of women, and it’s utter bullshit! Just as there are tall people and short people, those with blue eyes and those with brown, tanned, pale, freckled, and so on, there is a vast range of body shapes. No body type has more value than another. Your self-worth should not be linked to your body. Ever.
Rule Three: It’s Ok Not To Love Your Body
One of the flaws in body positivity is that it encourages you to lose your body. This is not a bad thing in itself, but it’s not always possible to love your body. Everyone has wobbles; I know I do. a few weeks ago, my insecurity hit a nasty bout of depression head-on. My husband watched helplessly as I lay curled in a ball, sobbing that I didn’t deserve to eat and it would be better for everyone if I just let myself die. Pretty grim, huh?
That’s why this is one of the body liberation rules. You don’t have to love your body. So please don’t beat yourself up if you don’t or feel like a failure. Instead, show yourself the compassion you deserve. You are doing your best. We all are. If you often struggle with loving your body and body liberation rules 1 & 2 aren’t working, why not aim lower? Try simply for body acceptance. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s easier.
Take Care
Those are my body liberation rules, but please feel free to add your own in the comments. Til then, I send you all love and good thoughts. Take care of yourselves xx
