As we approach the New Year and ponder our resolutions, it’s the ideal time to continue our conversation about embracing body neutrality. This is especially true for queer people, who often face societal pressure to conform to specific body standards. This period of reflection offers an opportunity to discuss how these societal influences shape our self-perception and impact our journey towards satisfaction.
We all know the societal ideals against which we measure ourselves, yet we also know these standards don’t at all capture the true diversity of our experiences, identities, or bodies. As we step into 2024, we advocate for a shift โ moving beyond the pursuit of altering our bodies to fit these unrealistic molds. Instead, let’s focus on creating experiences that bring genuine satisfaction.
Embracing body neutrality is about valuing what our bodies do for us, shifting the focus from the mental effort and constant pressure of meeting external and internal standards to simply being in the moment and appreciating what we have. This approach can be a powerful resolution, offering a pathway to liberation from societal constraints. Queer bodies are often subject to intense scrutiny and idealization and choosing to embrace body neutrality is not just self-care; it’s a radical act of self-love and a rebellion against narrow beauty standards.
The photography in this piece was taken by Zephyr at the November 2023 Natural Pursuits Event.
Rethinking New Year’s Resolutions
Each January, many of us get swept up in setting New Year’s resolutions aimed at altering our physical appearance through rigorous dieting, intensive workouts, or even cosmetic procedures. They all have the similar goal–pursuing the ideal body. We gamble on the hope that, once we have the ideal body, we’ll be happier.
This relentless pursuit of physical perfection often stems from deeper, internalized issues. As queer people, many of us were conditioned to believe that being queer is synonymous with being wrong or defective. For some, this false belief that we are inherently flawed or ‘broken’ because of our sexuality generalizes into how we view our bodies. Achieving perfection will prove that we were never broken.
Until this elusive perfection is attained, a sense of incompleteness and unhappiness prevails. It’s a damaging cycle where societal norms and expectations severely overshadow personal acceptance and satisfaction.
Embracing body neutrality offers a way out of this cycle. This philosophy encourages us to appreciate our bodies for their functionality, strength, and the resilience they’ve shown throughout our lives. It allows us to ignore someone else’s expectations for our bodies, focusing on celebrating our bodies for their endurance and achievements.
5 Resolutions to Cultivate Body Neutrality
In 2024, let’s make some resolutions about enjoying our lives and our bodies more. Embracing body neutrality can start with simple practices. Here are some examples of resolutions that will help you cultivate body neutrality and hopefully make you a little more satisfied with your life.
Of course, feel free to modify these or come up with your own. The important thing is keeping in the back of your mind that your body is what makes these activities possible.
Bring Back Joy
Dedicate time for a favorite activity, like reading, hiking, or having dinner with friends, that was missed in 2023. Adding a specific timeframe (weekly, monthly, etc) makes it easier to track success.
Meditate
Mindfulness practices make it easier to identify and replace negative thoughts about yourself. Meditating once a day is a great goal and there are plenty of apps to help.
Eliminate Deadweight
Resolve to distance yourself from people who negatively impact your body image and cultivate relationships with those who support and uplift you.
Move the Way You Want
If you hate exercising, engage in physical activities like yoga, walking, or dance, focusing on the joy of movement rather than on burning calories or altering body shape.
Seek Professional Support
Commit to therapy or counseling to work through the real issues that are impacting your self-esteem.
Setting Yourself Up for Success
It’s not always easy to maintain a body-neutral mindset, especially in a world focused on physical appearance. For queer people, this challenge is often intensified by the pervasive images of the ‘ideal’ body type that flood our social media feeds and mainstream media. This relentless exposure can lead to a constant, internalized pressure to emulate these ideals, making the journey towards embracing body neutrality even more complex.
Here’ a few things you can do to handle these challenges:
Social Media Detox
Actively cultivate a media environment that supports and reflects diversity in body types. This can mean following social media accounts that celebrate body diversity and unfollowing the accounts that make you feel bad.
Find a Community
Creating a support network with others who understand and share these experiences can be incredibly empowering. Sharing stories, discussing the impact of these societal standards, and collectively exploring ways to appreciate our bodies for what they are, rather than what theyโre expected to be, can reinforce a body-neutral perspective.
[We’re working on figuring out a place to start this kind of community. Facebook group? Discord group? Sound off in the comments.]
Be Nice To Yourself
Embracing body neutrality as a queer person is not just about rejecting unrealistic standards; it’s about affirming and celebrating the diversity and uniqueness of our bodies, recognizing the beauty in our differences, and understanding that our worth is not defined by adherence to a specific body type. Doing that means cutting yourself some slack.
A Year of Embracing Body Neutrality
As we step into 2024, let’s make this commitment to body neutralityโa resolution for a lifetime of self-appreciation. Let’s dismantle the pressure to conform to specific body standards and finding contentment in our own skin. Let’s release the idea of being gay in any ‘right way’. Let’s redefine comfort in our own skin.
Here’s to a 2024 filled with things we love and bring us joy.
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