I’ve noticed that a post from a couple of weeks ago brought up some questions about the definition of body/size/fat acceptance. Many categorize EAC as a fat acceptance blog but we like to use the term body acceptance. This is mostly because the word body implies that we want to encourage women of ALL sizes to accept what their bodies were meant to look like (without excluding any body types). EAC seeks to encourage all women to love their bodies, no matter what they look like and that includes fat, thin and anything in between.
I grew up thin and even though I’m a little curvier than I was when I was a teenager, I am still relatively thin. But despite having a body that is closer to the media/societal ideal, I have struggled with body acceptance (before I knew what to call it) my whole life.
The Fatospere was the first community I found that accepted people of all sizes, condemning over-exercising and not adhering to under-eating and constant dieting. So many others say they are for positive body image and then have a “how I lost 20 pounds and kept it off” article somewhere in their archives. To me, that’s not true body acceptance.
True body acceptance is:
Not feeling like you have to go to extremes to change your body to fit an ideal.
Not starving yourself (hiding under the guise of dieting) just to fit into a small(er) pants size.
Not killing yourself at the gym so that you can get a smaller number on your scale.
Accepting the fact that your body was meant to look a certain way, and not forcing it to change into something else that you think looks better (looks better according to who anyway)?
Learning to feel comfortable in your own skin even if you are not at your ideal weight (cause even if you get there, that’s not where true self-esteem comes from anyway, SEE Weight Loss Fantasy).
Eating and enjoying food without feeling guilty (SEE Cheeseburger Rule #17).
Realizing that incessant calorie counting won’t bring you happiness.
Loving each curve of your body because its what makes you who you are.
Those are just a few things that body acceptance means to me. What about you? I guess at the end of the day, no matter how you see this blog and how you define it, if you keep coming back, you are that much closer to accepting you for you, and that makes us happy.☺
Ps. There is an awesome post at Fatadelic that defines body/size/fat acceptance really well. Check it out.
I like to say that I promote fat rights and body size acceptance. I prefer not to identify as a fat acceptance activist largely for semantic reasons, but also because I don’t agree with some of what has become the FA mantra. Fat people face discrimination that thin people do not face, even if those thin people who have poor self images, so fat rights activism represents the political aspect of my activist platform. Body acceptance is more the personal, since, as you noted, so many people of all shapes and sizes harbor body insecurities.
In short, what body acceptance means to me is that instead of hating or fighting your body, you inhabit and embrace it.
I consider myself – along with Rachel, if I may put myself in anything like such august company with my small efforts – a believer in Body Acceptance who agitates for Fat Rights.
Love for your physical form, taking joy in your body – no matter how it is shaped or what it can or cannot accomplish, this is Body Acceptance to me. It necessarily includes issues of physical disability as well as of general body shape.
Bodies are amazing things. We should all appreciate what they do every day, whether they allow us to run marathons or sing, or create art, or express political thoughts, or run machinery. I believe in doing whatever those bodies are capable of and enjoy…including eating cheeseburgers.
I wear one of the bracelets in your picture.
You might consider posting a link to their site so your readers can purchase one if they’re interested?
…instead of hating or fighting your body, you inhabit and embrace it…
very well put, rachel. that’s what I want for myself.
I totally agree with you, I couldn’t have said it better myself!
i think small/skinny people have it the same way… there’s social pressures that tell us we have to be such a height and build.
i have tried whey protein- all that chalk shit and eating proper, still it’s difficult for me to put on a few kilos- nevertheless maintain them. i have learned to accept my body as my own & to love me for me… i hope one day i find the right girl that feels the same.
you know i never felt so comfortable with my naked body until i went to a nudist saunaclub/spa in germany.. i was nervous at first because in america we hype up sex a whole lot. i learned people talk a lot less about it when we’re all naked. and that people come in all different shapes and sizes and its something we should appreciate.
because i feel it’s the things we do as individuals to better society and help others in need that truly defines how beautiful we are- and who we really are as people.
This is the first time I have read your blog and I applaud you for stating quite clearly that you encourage body acceptance for all people despite their size and was shocked to read that others have labeled you anything but a positve space. Body image acceptance goes beyond someones physical body – the number of the scale or the tape measure is only a piece of the body image puzzle. Women are unhappy with their smiles, length of legs, freckles, hair…unfortunately the list goes on and on. Society need to realize that they physical body is only a small part of a woman’s overall beauty. The Beautiful Women Project (www.beautifulwomenproject.org) has a simple and powerful message: it is the sum of a woman’s life experiences that makes her beautiful. That includes her journey through the body image maze. We all find our way to love ourselves just the way we are. Thank you for supporting women of shapes and sizes. Keep up the great work.
“…i think small/skinny people have it the same way…”
wrong-o, mentaloriental.
Sorry, but they don’t have it the ‘same way’ as fat people. Not in modern-day U.S.A. anyway.
Thats what I struggle with everyday. Accepting myself at this weight. I know I dont want to lose the weight but there is always a part of me that just doesn’t accept or is unhappy with where I am at. I hope one day it will change.
I totally agree with everything this blog stands for! I have an overeating eating disorder and over the years it’s been fueled by the constant pressure to be young and skinny, i’ve just written a post about body acceptance, check it out if you feel like it
Emma
http://www.doesmybumlookbiginthis.wordpress.com