Navigating Body Acceptance and Social Media
Blog Post By Natasia James
In the vast and visually-driven world of social media, it's easy to find ourselves entangled in a web of unrealistic beauty standards and body shaming. The constant stream of curated images can take a toll on our mental health, affecting the way we perceive ourselves. However, fear not! This blog is your guide to breaking free from the chains of body negativity and embracing the empowering realm of achieving body acceptance.
What Is Body Shaming, Body Positivity, and Body Neutrality?
Before we get into how to navigate mainstream media, let’s first understand the spectrum of body acceptance.
Body-shaming refers to the act of criticizing or making negative comments about a person's body size, shape, or appearance. It can occur in various contexts, including in person, online, or through media. Body-shaming contributes to a culture that places unrealistic standards on individuals, leading to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and mental health issues.
Body positivity is a movement that encourages individuals to embrace and celebrate their bodies, regardless of societal standards. It promotes the idea that all bodies are worthy of love and respect. Body positivity aims to challenge narrow beauty ideals and create a more inclusive and accepting environment, as well as encourage an appreciation for body diversity.
Body neutrality, on the other hand, suggests shifting the focus from appearance to function. It emphasizes acknowledging and accepting your body without assigning a value based on its appearance. In a body-neutral mindset, the emphasis is on what the body can do rather than how it looks. It's about finding contentment and comfort in the body's abilities and experiences rather than its aesthetics.
Whatever your goal may be on the spectrum to achieving body acceptance, here are some strategies to further reach that while using social media.
Unfollow & Unwind: A Digital Detox for Your Mind
Assess Who You Follow
The first step toward a healthier social media experience is taking stock of who you follow. If an account consistently promotes harmful beauty standards or makes you feel less than, it's time to unfollow. Remember, your social media feed is your curated space; make it one that uplifts and inspires.
Marie Kondo Your Feed
Think of your social media accounts as your digital living space. If it doesn't bring you joy or positively contribute to your mental well-being, it's time for a digital declutter. Unfollow accounts that promote body shaming, unrealistic ideals, or anything that triggers negativity. “But what if my mom constantly posts memes that support diet culture?” Great question; for accounts that are challenging to unfollow (friends, family, or acquaintances), consider muting or restricting their posts. This way, you can control the content you see from them without severing the connection.
Find Your Tribe
Seek accounts that resonate with your values and promote body neutrality and positivity. Follow influencers, creators, and activists who celebrate diversity, self-love, and authenticity. Your feed should be a source of inspiration and encouragement. Below are a few influencers we recommend to follow that promote body acceptance:
Dalina Soto - Dalina is a registered dietician who uses her platform to combat diet culture and educate those within the LatinX community about intuitive eating, eating without guilt, and embracing the body for how it naturally is. (IG: @your.latina.nutritionist, website: yourlatinenutritionist.com).
Fairen Kia - Founder of Love Thy Belly, she created this fat positive organization to promote body freedom, and encourage followers to recognize that all bodies are good bodies, including those in fat bodies (IG: @lovethybelly, website: https://www.lovethybelly.org/)
Kai Wes - A trans, non-binary person, Kai encourages gender identity exploration and expression. Their platform is used to share their transition journey, as well as humanize the trans experience (IG: @kai__wes)
Ryan Sheldon -Ryan is a queer, male influencer who advocates for radical self-love and male body acceptance. He shares his journey of recovering from binge eating disorder, and often uses his platform to spread awareness of eating disorders in men. (IG: @realryansheldon)
Sarah Nicole Landry - Sarah promotes body acceptance in the perspective of motherhood. She humanizes the experience of how the body changes after bearing children, and encourages followers to be present in the body they’re in. (IG: @thebirdspapaya)
Vinny Welsby - A non-binary person, Vinny helps people unlearn weight stigma and anti-fat bias. Their platform educates about the harms of diet culture and encourages body acceptance through embracing fat positivity. (IG: @fierce.fatty)
Virginia Sole-Smith - Author of Fat Talk, Virginia Sole-Smith’s advocates for changing the conversation about weight, health and worth. Her book and platform educates about anti-fat bias and specifically helps equip parents to raise their kids to embrace bodies of all sizes in the age of diet culture. (IG: @v_solesmith)
Interested in learning more about how you can work with Tasi and begin improving your relationship with food and your body? View our eating disorder therapy services here and schedule a free consultation today!
About Natasia “Tasi” James: Natasia "Tasi" James joined the Rock Recovery team in 2023 and is a Resident in Counseling in the state of Virginia. She received her Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2021 at the University of Kentucky. She has a wide breadth of experience in the mental health field, including experience with both adolescents and adults with eating disorders in the Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient levels of care. Expect Tasi's energy to be upbeat, warm, compassionate, and humorous. Her approach is to create a space for clients to feel comfortable and safe, encourage self-exploration to resolve core issues regarding their disordered eating/negative body image, and help clients to evolve in their authenticity. She is passionate about creating inclusive spaces, and access to high quality of care for underserved communities.