Celebrating Body Positivity- SlummySingleMummy
Celebrating Body Positivity With Some Amazing Influencers- Jo Middleton
Today is Body Positivity Day and we thought it would be a great opportunity to ask some fabulous women their views on body positivity and how they’ve overcome challenges.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty. what is body positivity? Body positivity is a social movement that believes that everyone should have a positive view of their body. However, it also challenges the way that society perceives and presents people’s bodies (and yes also periods) for example, images on social media, in fitness clubs, advertisements, and in magazines etc.
Body positivity day wants to advocate for everyone to accept their body’s regardless of the colour, shape, form, appearance, or size.
Jo first started her blog, way back in 2009, it was purely a place for her to connect with other parents, share her own issues and get support or advice back from others. Although over the years my blog has become my full time job and therefore a bit more commercial, I hope that it still essentially does the same thing. Parenting, and life in general, is tough sometimes, and I want to bring a little bit of comfort and light relief to people.
I’d say for me that body positivity is actually quite a private thing. It doesn’t necessarily mean posting all over social media about how much I love my cellulite in a bikini, it’s more subtle than that. It’s about inherently loving my body, and living my life in a way that isn’t restricted by my body. I might share an image in a bikini just because I’m at the beach - it’s normal and natural and I want it to be seen as that, not always as a blatant message.
Have you or do you struggle with an aspect of your body? Did social media influence your views?
I do look in the mirror sometimes at my face and see the signs of ageing and feel a bit sad, but I think that’s less about physical appearance and more an acknowledgement of the passing of time and everything that has been and might never be again. I have odd days of course when I think it would be nice if my thighs weren’t quite as puckered or my boobs were perkier, but ultimately I know that those things wouldn’t actually make any difference! I don’t think social media influences my views significantly more than traditional media, but there is definitely a more diverse range of body shapes and types on social media, which is a very positive thing.
Have you overcome the negative view of your body? If so, how? If not, then are you taking steps towards gaining a healthy view of your body?
I think I’ve generally had a pretty healthy view of body, but age has definitely made me feel a lot more comfortable with myself and less likely to get hung up on small perceived flaws. The older you get and, ironically, the more your body moves away from the ‘ideal’, the more you realise none of it really matters anyway. The confidence that comes with age is a very powerful thing!
What advice would you give to other girls and women about their bodies if they're struggling to accept themselves?
It sounds brutal, but I say to my daughters that you have to remember that other people really just don’t care in the way they think they do. My youngest might spend ages worrying about something to do with her hair, when everyone else is too busy worrying about their own hair to notice! I think it’s almost impossible to convince someone else though to love their body - true body positivity comes from you, not what other people think of you. At WUKA we want you to feel positive about your period too, you can still go swimming with our leakproof swim bikini for light flow days and feel comfortable even when bloated with WUKA High Waist.
