Body positivity is a movement that has gained a lot of traction in recent years, with its focus on celebrating and promoting self-love, self-acceptance, and self-care. However, while body positivity has been largely celebrated as a positive movement, there is a growing sense of hypocrisy when it comes to the way it is applied to men and women.
Body positivity has traditionally been seen as a movement for women, with the goal of celebrating and accepting all body types, regardless of size or shape. This is a noble goal, and one that many feel is important to promote, considering we live in a society that is so obsessed with unrealistic beauty standards. Unfortunately, this message of self-love is rarely extended to men, and in some cases, body positivity is even used as a way to shame men who don’t fit the traditional masculine ideal.
This is an example of the double standard that exists when it comes to body positivity. Women are encouraged to love and accept their bodies, regardless of size or shape, while men are held to a much higher standard. This double standard is not only unfair, but it also sends a damaging message to men that their bodies are not worthy of acceptance or love.
The double standard is even more pronounced when it comes to how body positivity is portrayed in the media. Women are often represented as strong and powerful, with an emphasis on loving and accepting their bodies. On the other hand, men are often portrayed as buff and muscular, with little to no emphasis on self-acceptance or self-love. This sends a clear message to men that their bodies are not worthy of acceptance, and that they must conform to a certain standard of beauty in order to be accepted.
What’s more, this double standard is reflected in the way that body positivity is discussed in the public sphere. Women are often praised for their body positivity, while men are criticized for not being in shape or even tall enough. By liberal standards, this not only reinforces damaging stereotypes, but it also sends a message to men that their bodies are not worthy of love or respect.
This double standard of body positivity is damaging, and it needs to be addressed. If we’re focusing on body positivity, it should be a movement that celebrates and accepts all body types, regardless of gender. It should encourage self-love and self-acceptance, and that recognizes that all bodies are worthy of love and respect.
However, I tend to take a much different stance. I feel like the body positivity is a movement that supports an unhealthy, and unattractive, lifestyle. While men are still being held to the same higher standards they were before the movement, women should be as well. We should not be accepting mediocrity in ourselves or in others, let alone promoting it. A smart man once told me “Show me how you do anything, and I’ll know how you do everything.” By promoting body positivity we’re enabling people to be lazy, entitled slobs. It’s not good for them and it’s not good for society.
