A blessing in disguise: Why losing weight does not contradict the ideas of body-positive
margarita virova
After losing weight Lena Dunham accused of treason ideas of body hypocity, it became quite obvious that some people misunderstand what the movement is fighting for. And beauty standards are still stronger than the idea that everyone has the right to dispose of his body as he wants it.
Having inscribed physicality in her work, Dunham must again and again be responsible for how the body's metamorphoses relate to her principles.
Despite the fact that every year more and more talk about the dangers of beauty standards, issues related to weight, are still acute. In society, it is still believed that to be full of “shame and unhealthy” - in response to such an outlook, a body positive appeared, praising the beauty of the body outside the patterns. The first to come under protection are people whose weight is above the gold "beach" standard. The sport and beauty industries, pretending that they care for someone else's health, continue to earn huge money on services and products that should help you lose weight. In fact, the link between thinness and health is not as straightforward as it seems to many, and the pressure exerted by advertising, fashion and society itself, is nothing more than a many-sided fetfobia.
For a long time, the role model of people with “not such” parameters was the actress and writer Lena Dunham - at least in the space of pop culture. Everything she did, wrote and said, often concerned the topic of accepting herself, and to a lesser degree her body. Sacralization of beauty, meanwhile, is based on our fears and desires more seriously: we all want to be loved, accepted and highly appreciated. Dunham turned out to be a living example of the fact that, having a set of characteristics that have traditionally been branded as "imperfections", it is possible to have sex, fall in love, achieve success and be happy. And all this was not just invested in the design of the TV series "Girls": its author really adhered to such beliefs in life. Almost every action she reminded of her choice: it is equally clearly expressed in the sexual and domestic scenes of the series, and in the appearance on the cover of Glamor without retouching. All this time, it did not stop praising and criticizing - anyway, it cost Lena to expose at least something, debates on the Internet immediately flared up.
And then she lost weight. The director and the actress told about it openly: she decided to switch to proper nutrition and sports, trying to alleviate the symptoms of endometriosis - nevertheless, she could not avoid the disapproving reaction again. By the way, Dunham wrote about her attempts to lose weight in her autobiographical book, and later she was forced to answer questions, for which she began to run in the morning. But the audience, apparently, cannot be fully satisfied: having inscribed corporeality in their work, one of the most interesting young artists of the generation must again and again be responsible for the state of their own body - and how its metamorphoses correspond to its principles.
Criticism of thinner "bodipozitivnyh leaders" rests on the erroneous belief that our appearance uniquely and directly reflects our inner world
More than once, attention was also attracted to the size-plus models like Ashley Graham and Crystal Rennes, who for various reasons and in different quantities lost weight - and they were all subjected to the same harassment. We have already written about what is wrong with the concept of "plus-size". In fact, the inclusion in the industry of not conventionally thin women is a useful, albeit an artificial process, designed to change outdated norms. But despite the fact that the bodies of these girls do not meet the traditional model requirements, they are still not integrated into the process. The industry gives them a separate “zagonchik” - and it turns out that either you play by the rules, beating off the “plus-size” label, or you are ostracized.
Behind all these disputes, the body-positive philosophy itself is lost, expressed in the slogan: "My body is my business." The idea is precisely to allow your figure to be what you want it to be. You can pay attention to appearance, but you can not do it at all. Your body image should not be involved in your professional life - at least because the way you look is not related to what you can do. Your health, interest in the appearance or lack of it, your lifestyle and ways of self-expression apply only to you. Criticism of the thinner “bodipositive leaders” rests on the same erroneous certainty that our appearance unambiguously and directly reflects our inner world. So the one who allowed himself to change automatically becomes an inconsistent talker.
Does losing weight and respecting beauty practices contradict body-positive beliefs? This question can not be answered unequivocally, but perhaps it is not necessary. Can weight loss be body-positive? Yes, well, if you avoid unhealthy ways and do not set yourself crippling goals. Connecting to this process of public reconciliation and condemnation does not make this decision more correct, but merely indicates that our bodies are still not as though free from obligations to the others. However, it seems, it’s time to stop digging into what was before, a chicken or an egg — crushing standards of beauty or our conscious decision — and just give other people the right to be themselves and to love themselves in any weight.
The formula by which tebu will be condemned, no matter what you do, continues to work here - precisely because the problem is not in our actions, but in the condemnation itself. Of course, it is a little paradoxical to be in circumstances in which completely opposite actions will be equally shameful, but there is only one way out of this vicious circle: look at this question as far as possible and say goodbye to the idea that our body must be some other . The fact that our body in general can be something to someone.