Body Neutrality: How to Make Friends with Your Body
Body acceptance has become more prominent in recent years. Social media is increasingly calling for people to love themselves, accept their appearance, not be ashamed of changes, and not conform to imposed beauty standards. For many people, this has become an important support.
Not every day a person is satisfied with their appearance. The body changes throughout life, and with it, feelings, needs and attitudes towards themselves can change. It is in this context that people are increasingly talking about bodily neutrality.
What is bodily neutrality?
Body neutrality is an approach in which appearance does not determine a person's worth.
In this approach, the focus shifts from appearance to the well-being and needs of the body. The body performs many functions every day that often go unnoticed until you start focusing on its appearance.
Why it's not always easy to "love your body"
Body positivity emerged as an important movement in opposition to the fact that there is only “standard parameters” of the body, especially for women due to sexualization.
The idea that different bodies deserve acceptance and respect is important, but for some people, the call to “love your body” can become just another demand over time.
If a person sees something in the mirror every day that they don't like, the phrase "just love yourself" is unlikely to automatically change their attitude towards their own appearance. On the contrary, an additional feeling of guilt may appear: if I don't love my body, it means that I don't accept myself enough.
This can be especially difficult during times when the body is changing due to illness, treatment, hormonal changes, stress, trauma, pregnancy, aging, or other life circumstances. At such times, a positive attitude towards one's appearance may be unattainable. And this does not mean that there is something wrong with the person.
A person's body changes throughout life, but this should not deprive you of the right to respect, comfort, and self-care.
How to compare yourself less to others
Part of working with body neutrality is how people compare themselves. Social media can create the impression that everyone around them has a “better” body, clearer skin, slimmer legs, or a flatter stomach. When you only see a few images of people, often curated, edited, or taken from a certain angle.
Comparisons can easily become an automatic habit. You may not even notice yourself evaluating your own legs, stomach, skin, or weight next to the person on the screen.
In such a situation, you can stop and remind yourself: "I fell into the comparison trap again."
This doesn’t mean that after one such thought, the comparisons will disappear. The goal is not to never compare yourself to others again, but to gradually notice this process and not let it determine your self-worth.
Seeing value in yourself beyond appearance
Acceptance begins with a person ceasing to evaluate their body on a daily basis.
You can try to notice the body's needs: give it food, sleep, rest, and comfort on time. You can notice flaws, but not let them define your own worth.
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This article was made possible by the support of the Norwegian people through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway (MFA of Norway) within the framework of the project “Building a Gender-Inclusive Recovery with the Women’s Movement of Ukraine” (GEN-Recovery). Responsibility for the content of the information lies with the NGO “La Strada-Ukraine”. The information presented in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway or the Government of Norway.
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