Stroll through just about any mall or browse a fashion-oriented social media site and you'll find many examples of the movement toward "body positivity." The concept behind the movement is simple: Love yourself no matter what shape or size your body happens to be. The goal is to encourage self-esteem and self-acceptance among those of us (virtually all of us) who don't meet the cultural idea of the perfect physique.
Body positivity is a good thing. For decades, ads and movies have brainwashed people to believe that female beauty is embodied by impossibly-thin, unsmiling waifs, while the perfect male has a perennial two-day beard, massive lats, and a 25-inch waist. Why do so many people fall prey to everything from bulimia to narcissism as they chase these unreal images of beauty? Why do Americans spend more than $66 billion a year trying to get unnaturally thin? Because these are the body images that pop up every time we turn on the television, go to a movie, or browse fashion...
Source: When Does Body Positivity Become Health Negativity?
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