Body Positivity, Health, and the Baby in the Bathwater

The best motive behind body positivity was a rejection of cruelty, shame, and narrow beauty standards. That motive becomes harmful when it turns into denial about bodyweight, health, agency, or the legitimacy of wanting to improve one's appearance. A humane view of the body can reject contempt without pretending that health is unrelated to body composition. It can also defend aesthetic ambition without reducing a person's worth to appearance.