To think if being "body positive" was promoting anorexia...

[Piglatin]

...everyone would be up in arms? Yet I see the phrase being used more and more on social media by obese women. I don't understand why being "thick", "curvy", "plus size", "voluptuous" are just other ways to avoid saying fat, yet if skeletal women were posting things about being "body positive" most people would see how damaging it is. Are we all meant to pretend that being unhealthily overweight is OK now?!

Obesity will never be promoted because it doesn't sell clothes.

If it sold clothes, they would have been using it all along as there have always been fat people who want to buy clothes. But even plus size clothing shops will use thinish women to sell much larger clothing. The clothes "hang" better on thinner women. That's why they push women to anorexia to basically turn human females into living clothes hangers. A few fat women on Instagram not crying into their pie won't change that.

Tbh if an adult woman is feeling confident/comfortable in her body then I don't think it's really my place to tell her otherwise. If she's overweight, she knows she's overweight, but she's a grown up and it's not really any of my concern.

Yes, and a healthy confident woman is actually less likely to turn to emotional eating and being heavy never feels good, it's uncomfortable and tiring and makes you struggle to feel comfortable in your own body so it will never be "aspirational" as some posters seem to think.

You don’t think that we are already told that being very underweight is ideal?

I think we’ve become so used to overweight, that normal is seen as underweight.

This thread is not going to go well. I think it's just too sensitive a subject for many.

For me the bottom line is neither underweight or over weight should be celebrated or seen as a body positive. Only healthy bmi should be. If you want to "celebrate yourself" and are significantly under or overweight, pick something else about yourself, a good quality and not one that is inherently unhealthy.

I disagree that overweight is seen as normal. I still think the reverse is true. I think women who are a healthy weight are often labelled as fat when they are not (and have seen this in the media, among my friends and experienced personally). Even in this thread no one is pretending that overweight women are slim - they even label themselves plus size which is where this thread began.

I am not sure it encourages people to be overweight but I could never really understand that when I became slightly underweight (turns out my metabolism decided to speed up) I had to be weight by a doctor every month for a year before they decided that I was healthy albeit underweight. I may be wrong but they I don't think they do the same when you are slighly overweight - this was all done on BMI so not even that accurate.

I agree OP

If you want to "celebrate yourself" and are significantly under or overweight, pick something else about yourself, a good quality and not one that is inherently unhealthy.

This

I think we’ve become so used to overweight, that normal is seen as underweight.

And definitely this - my mum is petite and slim. Walks every day, eats well, does yoga and is generally just very healthy. She has a healthy bmi and always has people commenting on how thin she is, usually in a derogatory way. Its bizarre.

I think that we live in an obesogenic environment and while we are all getting fatter the skinny models who hang our clothes are as underfed as ever and the hangwringer would like to fill the gap between the two with shame to compell people to eat more healthy.

But this is never going to work because shame only berates, it never motivates. Maybe body positive is a better strategy.

I'm at the upper end of a healthy bmi, the body positive end of modelling appeals to me more because the models look more like me and seem more full of life, smiling and active.

Google Fat Fetish, some people like it & want it.

I think what's missing is a kind of middle bit: we see thin women and big women and are told that we should be proud of our curves. However, for most of us, both are too extreme. Plus sized covers anyone from size 12 to 20, but someone who's a 12 will look totally different to a 20. I also see lots of very overweight young girls around and do worry a little that by normalising being overweight, we're setting up a culture where, whilst it would be nice to be slim, it's ok to be bigger and do nothing about it.

The thing is we all have positives and negatives about ourselves. We should not celebrate the negative, be it smoking, drinking too much, being over or under weight. Celebrate being smart, clever, funny whatever, but don't celebrate being too fat or too thin or smoking or being a pisshead.

I also don't think obesity is normalised, nor do I think being very underweight is, but I do think there is a huge body positive campaign from those in the obese category, celebrating your curves and that's wrong, it's just as wrong as celebrating the fact you smoke forty a day.

All the body positivity stuff reeks of the lady protesting too much. Like how no one cares as much about what people think than those who make a song and dance about how they don't care what people think of them.

I completely agree OP.
The Pro ana movement that nearly killed me is at least hidden on the intenet but the pro obesity movement is everywhere.
We have such a distorted veiw of what a healthy weight is now.

Problem is, many people who eat for emotional reasons end up stuck in a cycle of self-loathing, eating more to dull the pain, gaining weight, despising themselves more, eating more, gaining more and on it goes.

Well then thats the exact opposite of anorexia. I starved myself for emotional reasons ended up stuck in a cycle of self loathing, starving more to dull the pain, losing weight, despising myself more, starving more, losing more and it goes on. Being told I was too skinny and needed to gain weight didnt make me feel that great but ultimately it saved my life.

OP, if you are concerned about what may influence your DD when she grows up, I would heartily recommend that you watch the documentary 'Embrace'. It's available to buy/rent on iTunes and is all about body positivity, accepting your body for what it is and how WONDERFUL it is, regardless of size.

The body positivity movement is not saying it's okay to be obese OR throw shade at slim or skinny women, it's about allowing women to be who they are and accept how they look right now without feeling masses of guilt or self-hatred. We only get one amazing body for our life and so many of us waste so much time loathing it. THAT is what the body positivity movement is trying to stop, not being healthy/skinny/slim.

Please watch Embrace - it tells the stories of amazing women, of all shapes and sizes and will hopefully help you as your DD grows up.

Piglatin I have had the same experience as your Mum. I walk everyday and eat well. I am a size 8-10 and have had derogatory comments about my weight.

there are social rewards for being larger - do you mean people staring at you? sniggering and commenting behind your back? commenting openly when you dare to eat in public? frowning and tutting when you sit next to them on public transport? general disdain and contempt openly expressed in your direction every day? I don't think many large people feel "rewarded".

Google Fat Fetish.

I heard a woman give a speech saying she hated being a healthy weight b/c her boobs became smaller than she liked.

Is that a joke about normal being seen as underweight? It’s quite the opposite! People are called fat / obese for being marginally overweight, and being significantly underweight is very much normalised

People are called fat / obese for being marginally overweight, and being significantly underweight is very much normalised

100% this and mumsnet is terrible for it.

Do you fear people will force feed themselves into obesity because of these body positive campaigns?

Deliberately silly comment.

There is increasing pressure NOT to diet to a healthy weight. I have certainly seen a shift towards it becoming socially unacceptable to be a healthy small size.

100% this and mumsnet is terrible for it

Agreed. All under the guise of 'concern'.

Some friends of a work colleague posted in bikinis to celebrate 'positive body image'. I'll never understand why positive body image means stripping to your underwear. I think some of the promoters have control issues - wanting people to follow them and do as they say.

You can have a positive image and not strip off. You can have a positive image and strive to be healthy. Celebrating being at either end of the extreme is not healthy.

It said it all when the cancer campaign was accused of being 'body shaming'

Is that a joke about normal being seen as underweight? It’s quite the opposite! People are called fat / obese for being marginally overweight, and being significantly underweight is very much normalised

Its the norm to be overweight, its extremely uncommon for an adult to be significantley underweight and if they are they will be given treatment to help them to gain weight immediately. In 2014 (so its got a lot worse now) 62% of adults in the UK were classed as being overweight.
Being on the low end of a healthy weight no one belives I eat a healthy amount or weight a healthy amount because most people you see in the street are overweight.

I have certainly seen a shift towards it becoming socially unacceptable to be a healthy small size.

I have read some bullshit in my time, but this is right up there.