Are you happy with your own body? But really happy? Women in particular seem to suffer from the “It-can-always-be-better-syndrome”. Even if we are not actually a perfectionist at all. But we are all too good at being critical of ourselves. And that's what Body Positivity is about. If this is a new term for you, I'll be happy to explain it.
If you browse a bookstore or supermarket and pass by the magazines, you can suddenly expect a lot of photos of ladies in bikinis. And also when you're on social media or reading the newspaper. There is a new movement going on:Body Positivity. And that gives me a bit of mixed feelings…
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Body Positivity, as the name suggests, is about self-acceptance. And not about your inner self, but how you look, your feminine beauty. With a wrinkle and a roll of fat here or there. And that is of course fantastic! Because no matter how long we keep striving for an ideal, there are always new items on our to-do list. Even when it comes to our appearance. How wonderful is it to be able to let go of that and just be happy with your body? Even if it doesn't look 'perfect', in your ideal image?
More and more celebrities are going along with the idea, but the figurehead of body positivity is Miljuschka Witzenhausen. She has already posted several personal photos on her Instagram account with which she literally exposes her insecurities. Respect, because I don't see myself doing it! But that is not so much insecurity about my body the cause. Whatever size or age you are, everyone should be able to post a bikini photo online without anyone and without comment from others. Only I don't feel the need to do that with my own photos…
If you look at an average Facebook profile or Instagram account, people generally show how beautiful/fun/exciting/interesting/great their lives are. Other people think that's cool, and give it a like. Does that make that great vacation even more wonderful? New.
If you're going to post pictures of your body on social media, aren't you doing it for the likes somewhere? Whether you have a top model body, or just because it would be so brave of you to post those photos? And to what extent does that actually have to do with self-acceptance? Isn't it just about giving yourself a big like when you look in the mirror?
Do not get me wrong; I absolutely support the central message of body positivity. If only we women loved ourselves and how we look a little more. Then we would all feel a lot better about ourselves – and shine for that alone. But why do we have to wear bikinis on Facebook for that? And what message does that actually send to our daughters? That we should mainly expose ourselves online, because we are not ashamed of our bodies? Of course it is good that we see more photos of, for example, older or fuller women than the standard supermodels in advertisements. Fortunately, there is also a change underway. And the average person is not retarded and also knows that people usually don't look like this. My question is more:if we suddenly put massive photos of ourselves in bikini online, will we really appreciate ourselves more?
Maybe we shouldn't put more online, but less. Perhaps we should stop criticizing the appearance of other women online by now. If Adele has lost weight, everyone has an opinion about it. When Linda de Mol suddenly looks a lot tighter on the cover of her magazine than with an average episode of Miljoenenjacht, we all go over it bitchen † Even if the theme is body positivity. Excuse me , but we do it, bitch.
Stop whining, maybe that's the basis of body positivity. About the body of others and of yourself. Of course there are always things you want to work on. But as they say:happiness is not a goal in itself, the road somewhere makes you happy. So be happy with your body now, even if it doesn't look 100% the way you would like! And no, it's not always easy. If you feel the need, then you share photos of your body on social media. And if not, that's fine too, right? As long as it feels right to you. Whether you look at a photo of Linda de Mol or yourself. Self-acceptance and acceptance of others are sometimes close to each other. Don't hate, appreciate †
