Loving Your Body

By Morgan Lathrom

May 17th 2021

In today's society you have so many standards set forth by social norms and by peers. But you define beauty yourself. Society doesn't define your beauty.

There are some many women and men who fight body dysmorphia, and low body self esteem everyday. There are so many women and men who are told they can't be in a certain profession or do certain activities because of their body size. Young people tend to struggle with their body, especially after scrolling through social media and seeing such beautiful people all day long! So how does someone stay “Body Positive”? I don't have the answer, it is a day to day struggle for myself.

I could go on and on about how much I love my body and how you can follow my guide to loving your body, but I simply don't have that. I won't lie to you. Seeing gorgeous people on my feed all day long, gets tiring and makes me actually upset. But there are so many inspiring stories out there that truly help me through my hard times when I'm feeling disgusted about my own body.

The stories about those who are paving the way for inclusivity might seem cliche but, it's what helps me. What works for me might not work for you, that's why I've also put together some tips to be able to help you become body positive.

So what is body positivity? Well its a social movement focused on empowering individuals no matter their weight or size, but it also challenges society and the perception of body types. This movement advocates for acceptance of all body sizes, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, and appearance. What makes body positivity a good thing? Well it's a feeling of acceptance of your appearance, which can improve mental health, and reduce the risk of eating disorders, but it also allows someone to be themself. You can be body positive about others, by sharing love and compliments about someone else, and also not be body positive about yourself. This is because being body positive about others is easy. But being body positive about yourself is not, I think it's because you are your own worst critic. It's a terrible mindset but over time it's been embedded into our minds from society. I am not going to sit here and tell you I have some magical solution for this problem, but I will give you some insight into how others have joined the body positive movement and are now unapologetically themself.

Starting with hip hop dancer, choreographer, model, and influencer, Amanda LaCount.

Amanda has been a dancer since she was 2 years old. Throughout her dancing career she has been told that her body type does not fit in, or that she's too big to be a dancer, she needs to lose weight, etc. Even though she has experienced so many ignorant comments on her body, she doesn&#