Lizzo criticized body positivity. Here’s what you need to know about body neutrality.
Lizzo called out the body positivity movement saying the term has been “co-opted by all bodies” and has become a trend of “celebrating medium and small girls and people who occasionally get rolls.”
“Fat people are still getting the short end of this movement,” she said, adding “we’re still getting talked about, memed, shamed,” but “no one cares anymore.”
Instead of preaching body positivity, some are practicing body neutrality.
“The Good Place” actress Jameela Jamil shared her take on body neutrality with Glamour in 2019 saying, “I don’t think about my body ever… Imagine just not thinking about your body. You’re not hating it. You’re not loving it. You’re just a floating head. I’m a floating head wandering through the world.”
What is body neutrality?
“The body positive movement urges people to love their bodies no matter what they look like, whereas body neutrality focuses on what your body can do for you rather than what it actually looks like,” said Chelsea Kronengold, the associate director of communications at the National Eating Disorders Association.
Someone who practices body neutrality might say, “I am grateful for my legs because they got me from point A to point B, or I’m grateful for my arms, because they allow me to hug my loved one,” Kronengold explained.
She noted body neutrality’s focus on how a body functions as opposed to how it looks comes with some able-bodied privilege.
Meredith Nisbet, a supervisor at the Eating Recovery Center, added body neutrality is also “the idea that we can still care for our bodies even if we don’t regard them positively.”
“I don’t have to be happy with my body, I don’t have to love my body, but I can still acknowledge that this is the one body that I have… and so I need to be caring for that,” she said.
