Body Positivity - Kudos

At Kudos, we design, believe and live by the word positivity. A big piece of positivity we are going to cover today is, Body Positivity.

The Body Positive Movement is a movement that encourages people to adopt more forgiving and affirming attitudes towards their bodies, with the goal of improving overall health and well-being. - Wikipedia -

Just a few short years ago, the term body positivity wasn't part of the lexicon. Body Positivity has become a movement built upon the notion every individual is worthy of love. When self love is expressed, it changes us from the inside out. Body Positivity separates our physical body from our self worth - finally. These two have been cohabitating for far too long.  Our self worth and our physical form are two very separate entities - and with the movement, people are learning no matter what is happening on the inside, outside, or to our bodies, we are still important, we matter.

We have moved into a world where it’s okay to value our unique identities. It seems we have become liberated from the outside pressures and ideologies and in turn we are accepting our bodies and that is a really powerful and righteous act.  

With the acceptance of ourselves we begin to learn our relationship with ourselves is a vital one.  When we learn to nurture the relationship with ourselves, we open up to the idea that we are beautifully messy and lovable human beings. We like and even love who we are and what we stand for...and there is no size or shape attached to it.

"A radical paradigm shift, but so simple, elegant, and intuitive. Love yourself and your body!"

— Brad Buchman, MD, college health physician

The movement is a breath of fresh air - and crucial. To bear witness to tween and teen girls love themselves and see them embrace who they are at such a young age is remarkable.

Growing up, the glossy Teen magazines were our north star and window into what beautiful should look like. The makeup, hair, long legs, perfect skin, amazing clothes was enough to make anyone bend toward “not enough.” Little did we know the pictures were all photoshopped. The images we all stared into were impossibilities. Nothing about the images were real - and yet as young girls and women - we aspired to those body standards.   

We have learned from history’s mistakes and now we have the tools available to us to begin leading body positivity conversations with our young women. To inspire them to appreciate their minds, bodies and contributions and not necessarily in that order. Part of loving ourselves is reminding each other about the importance of living with body positivity.

Brands loved us - it was the exact response they aim for and they have just changed the narrative. Today, leading brands, popular media outlets and many marketing campaigns have adapted to the body positivity movement.  Sports Illustrated featured plus-sized model Ashley Graham on the cover for their annual Swimsuit edition in 2016. Miss Teen USA ditched their swimsuit competition "as part of a commitment to 'evolve in ways that celebrate women’s strength, confidence and beauty for years to come.'” All the while, Dove, Aerie, and Victoria's Secret have attempted to incorporate what appears to be body positivity into their advertising efforts.

Let’s strive to love the person we are and be grateful for our first and most important home - our body. We only get one - why not spend our lives loving the gifts we have been given.