Body positivity, the wonderful movement that helps people accept themselves and love the body that they’re born with, but how exactly did the movement start? The body positivity movement that we see all around our socials and hear about while being out and about actually started as a movement in the 1960s and was born to get rid of fat-shaming.

The movement was created by Lew Louderback when he released an article titled “More People Should Be Fat.” In the article, Louderback described the way he was treated in the workspace because of his size and the discrimination he felt. With the influence from Louderbacks article, Bill Fabrey agreed with the article and was disgusted how his wife was treated because of her size and decided to contact Lower-back to start the NAAFA (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) movement, which is one of the first body positivity movements. 

The NAAFA group also inspired two feminist women, Connie Sobczak and Elizabeth Scott, to create another body positivity movement called, “The Body Positive,” which focused on women ignoring the body standards and media telling them how to look. 

From Louderback’s article, and “The Body Positive,” the body positive movement is all over the world on many different platforms and helps encourage everyone today to spread positivity and to love themselves just the way they are. We see body positivity all over ourselves but how do we individually spread that positivity around and embrace it? 

Spread positivity and be with a group of people who make it easier for you to feel comfortable around, when you’re around other people who understand and help support you it can be an easier journey. The articles ‘10 Ways to Practice Body Positivity’ and  ‘10 Steps to Positive Body Image’ help give body positivity advice such as going against the beauty standards and understand that there’s no such thing as “true beauty.” Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors and being able to appreciate yourself inside and out, and having that confidence is what truly matters. Positive affirmations, it’s important to beat those bad thoughts and be able to build yourself up instead of beating yourself up over them, find positive affirmations that work for you. Although it may seem tough, you shouldn’t compare yourself to others or your younger self. All bodies grow over time and it’s all natural and healthy to grow.     

Body positivity is for people to help build their relationships with their bodies and create a positive and helpful movement. There are always many places you can look for advice such as “The Body Positive,” or even helpful and educational accounts you can find on social media, to help your journey with your body.  Our bodies do a lot for us so it’s best to appreciate our bodies and be able to love ourselves both inside and out.