Understanding the essence of Body Positivity : A new perspective to "fitness"

Body positivity is a term that is used to describe a social movement and an ideology that aims to change the perception of people towards various body types by urging people not to be judgemental towards various body types despite their different colour, shape, and size. Body positivity aims to make people more accepting of their own and other's body type.

The very basic seeds for this idea of body positivity were sowed back in 1969 where an engineer named Bill Fabrey had gone out to become a founder of a community that aids people suffering from obesity. He had done this because according to him the people around him weren't treating his wife kindly who was suffering from obesity. Since then various people have come forward to support other people who suffer from such social conditions where they have been facing trouble with their body image.

On the other hand body negativity is a term that is used to describe one's negative approach towards their own and others' body types. In this case, people who constantly compare their body type to those of others who they think to have a better body than theirs fall under the body negativity category. Such people usually have unrealistic ideals and due to their negative approach towards their own body type, they may harm their own mental health says various studies conducted by various psycho therapy Institutes.

Various studies have shown that body negativity is associated with several mental disorders such as eating disorders and depression. Moreover, earlier the data available on Body Image was only based on a women's body image, largely neglecting body image in men.For Centuries both men and women have faced various issues regarding their body type, where both of them have been ridiculed for being thick, skinny, disfigured, asymmetrical, midget, giant, dark or too fair body type.

Looking at the amount of body negativity that is happening today which has boosted even further due to the ongoing Pandemic and lockdown where people are forced to sit at home with lack of physical activity, we at SYNC club of HR college decided to host a session based on body positivity led by fashion influencer Ms. Radhika Jagtap who has previously been Tiara Miss India Petite (2019). 

Ms Radhika Jagtap commenced the event by explaining to us about Body Image and then she went on to explain to us about Body Positivity and Body Negativity. She then explained to us what problems can occur due to a negative body image and how it can lead to alcohol or drug abuse. We got an opportunity to learn from her real life experiences where she spoke about her fight with tuberculosis and post-treatment side effects that caused her to become 7 shades darker than what her actual skin tone looked like.

We believe that Ms Radhika Jagtap is a true inspiration for the youth of today's day and age because she being a social media influencer herself, spoke about how social media is a place where people differ from their real lives and how social media causes one to feel more insecure because of their own body-types.

Ms. Radhika gave 3 important tips to reduce negative body image. They are:-

1) Unfollow all the unrealistic influencers on social media that are too focused on spreading the perfect body image in a society which may encourage or trigger comparison-making behavior amongst people.

2) Seek out body positivity irrespective to social media. This means one should seek out body positivity through various ways like by following influencers who promote a body-positive image. 

3) Educate yourself. This is because one must understand that how social media posts are manipulated in order to showcase one's unrealistic perfect body which in turn spreads body negativity. 

We then got to hear about few body-positive celebrity examples like Laxmi Aggarwal and ZozibiniTunzi who overcame all the odds of the society and became successful despite of their struggles with their respective issues. She also spoke about a quote by C.GJung which says "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely".

Before ending the session the last and most beautiful tip that she gave each one of us was that everyone must compliment each other on their looks whenever they see each other so that the person who receives a compliment feels good.

You could follow various Body positivity-based influencers were recommended by Radhika Jagtap herself. They are:-

1) Prableen Kaur Bhomra - @prableenkaurbhomra

2) Sakshi Sindwani - @stylemeupwithsakshi

3) Dolly Singh - @dollysingh

 -Yash Chhabria ( Team SYNC Snippets)