Why Body Liberation, Now More Than Ever

Written By Deb Benfield

I am so glad you are here! Thank you for investing your time and attention in this space.

If you're new here, welcome! My blog is a dedicated space to explore the intersection of cultivating an age-affirming way of living with body liberation. The Body Liberation community would benefit from the inclusion of older bodies. The "Pro-Aging" community needs body diversity and, many times, tends to uphold the thin ideal and diet/wellness culture. I'm here to discuss issues affecting us in midlife and older through a body liberation lens. If you've been here for a while, thank you for sticking around. I love that you are a part of this one-of-a-kind community we are creating together!

This blog may make you uncomfortable. Growth and change push us to our edges, and that's okay. Thank you for your curiosity and being open to growing and changing!

As I posted on Instagram recently, with all of the pain and suffering in the world right now, I have not been able to bring "business as usual" energy, so I took a break from writing my newsletter and posting. I try to show up and speak up amidst the atrocities we are witnessing. I'm choosing not to look away and to feel the heartbreak, frustration, and anger that arise alongside our humanity right now. 

I'm also trying to take care of myself. If you find discerning when to sit, reflect, and restore and when to stand up and speak up a real challenge, you are in good company. Me too! 

I'm centering what may be meaningful and helpful to you during these troubled times. BTW, I'm still working on my manuscript and hit the 1/3 mark recently! Small victories!

This brings me to what Body Liberation truly means and why I am on a mission to address the intersection of Aging and Body Liberation. And why now?

The Beginning: Body Positivity Movement

Every day, you may think your body (your home, your life partner) is not good enough. We are bombarded by ads for anti-aging potions and lotions, weight loss programs and injections, and fitness "musts." Friends and family may be chatting about what they don't like about their bodies because sometimes that is how we bond, right? So it's understandable if thoughts that run through your mind when you look in the mirror as you wash your face at the end of the day or get dressed in the morning may tend to be judgy and critical, focusing on "what's wrong."

The body positivity movement was born to help us challenge our internalized body judgments and advocate for the equal treatment of all bodies. We know that when you move out of feeling body shame, you are more likely to care for your body. Research shows that feeling bad about your body's appearance, size, or shape harms your mental and physical health and makes you less likely to engage in health-promoting behaviors.

The origins of Body Positivity date back to the fat acceptance movement of the 1960s. The idea of ending anti-fat bias was the seed of a larger project of accepting and celebrating bodies of all races, gender identities, abilities, sexual orientations, ages, shapes, and sizes, fueled primarily by larger-bodied queer Black women.

Body Positivity gained traction, aided by the internet and social media, and in the process, was diluted by its widespread use by people just like me-white, straight-sized women working in the anti-diet space. I'll make a personal statement about my place in this later. Keep reading! 

Body Positivity language was then co-opted by diet culture until it became meaningless. Most disturbingly, the more commonplace body positivity message was leaving out the fact that the body hierarchy of our culture makes life in a body that is larger, racialized, disabled, older, or pretty much anything but a young, thin, able, and cisgender male body is just plain harder. Enter Body Liberation.

Body Positivity vs. Body Liberation

One of the most powerful aspects of the Body Liberation movement is shifting the focus away from the individual and toward the systems we live in. Body Liberation is “ freedom from social and political systems of oppression that designate certain bodies as more worthy, healthy, and desirable than others.” It is the belief that all bodies are worthy and deserve respect and care just as they are.

The Body Liberation movement proclaims: 

  • You cannot know a person’s health or abilities based on appearance.

  • Your body size, age, health status/fitness, or ability does not measure your worth.

  • Body liberation is intersectional and inclusive. Body liberation is for everyone.

  • Body Liberation widens our perspective and encourages inclusivity, so our bodies are no longer seen as problems to be fixed. 

  • Interconnection rather than individualism. 

  • And more!

“The reality is that our bodies are constantly changing, and they will never remain exactly the same. If we base our self-worth on something as ever-changing as our bodies, we will forever be on the emotional roller coaster of body obsession and body shame. We are inherently worthy because we exist, not because of what we look like. Developing the ability to radically accept our bodies and recognize their value regardless of how they look is paramount if we ever want to feel at home and at peace with ourselves.”-Chrissy King from The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom​

Your aging body is worthy and deserves respect and care just as you are.

Body Liberation is for all bodies, so we also need to talk about Social Justice.

Body Liberation Beyond the Individual

The thing is, you can't "self-love" or "self-care" yourself out of systemic oppression. I've written many times here about our culture's toxic body hierarchy, which values some bodies more than others. Body Liberation is a complex and nuanced topic. I'm hoping my writing will make you curious to learn more. I've listed many resources for you below and I've written about aging and the body hierarchy in previous posts on my blog.

Body Liberation is about abolishing body hierarchies and the oppression of bodies. This includes aging bodies, fat bodies, BIPOC bodies, disabled bodies, and LGBTQIA bodies, which is why Body Liberation is a Social Justice Issue. 

Social justice can be described as fair distribution of resources and opportunities, “full participation of all individuals within society so they can achieve their potential, and direct action to decrease the oppression of marginalized populations” (Nutter et al., 2018, p. 90). 

As you work to mend your relationship with your body and get rid of your internalized ageism and fatphobia, you start to see more clearly how messed up the messages about bodies are in our world! You begin to understand that we must also work toward systemic change. No matter how hard you work on your individual healing, you continue to be exposed to ageism and diet culture. 

It is through our own transformed relationships with our bodies that we become champions for other bodies on our planet. As we awaken to our indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies.- Sonya Renee Taylor from "The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love"​

If you've read this far, I so appreciate you. This topic is uncomfortable and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. It is not your fault if you feel confused or lost. This is new and complex territory. The good news is that you are curious and you may want to understand more. If we know better, we can do better.

Believe me, I understand it is not easy to balance the energy required to take care of yourself and the world's demands, especially lately. I trust that you can discern when you need to sit and when you need to stand up. You and I, we are only human. We mess up. I acknowledge and take responsibility for any harm I’ve caused as a straight-sized, cisgender white woman and for taking away space from marginalized folks or misspoke, causing harm. I acknowledge my various privileges and try to uplift marginalized voices with lived experience while fulfilling my commitment to participate in body liberation and activism. 

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​Practice: Now What?

This might be a good time to pause and check in with yourself. All of this talk of oppression may be dysregulating to you, so please take a moment to take care of yourself. Feel your feet or your seat, and scan your body for places you may be bracing or holding patterns of tension. Release and soften there. Breathe.

You are not alone; we are all in this healing process together. 

If you want more, here are some books I recommend (all are linked!):

I know this topic is challenging, so I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment and let me know what you'd like me to address here. Ask your questions or share your thoughts about the pressure you are feeling about your aging body. What's working and not working for you?

I look forward to our conversation! Thank you for being here❤️‍🔥.

Love and Respect,

Deb​

Deb Benfield
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Aging and The Next Chapter of Your Body Story
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F*ck Frumpy and a Body Confidence Practice For You