Since the start of the body positivity movement, people on social media have been promoting the acceptance of all people. However, people are still affected by hate comments regarding their appearance and the underrepresentation of their community in the media.

The media, such as magazines, commercials and social media, is a big part of our everyday lives. Teens tend to spend an average of over seven hours online per day and for most, the underrepresentation of our body type can have an impact on our confidence and the way we view ourselves. 

Humans are social creatures and we long for a feeling of belonging in a community. It is important that people begin to use their platforms to promote the inclusivity of all people and a healthy lifestyle. With the increased amount of activists, the media is slowly opening up to diversity. Senior Isabella Woulfe is beginning to see a change on the platforms she most frequently uses. 

“I feel like compared to years past, we have so much more representation of people with different body sizes,”  Woulfe said. 

People are beginning to normalize everyday bodies for both men and women and are starting to have conversations about how not everything that we see online or in magazines is real but edited. 

Normal everyday bodies don’t always look like what our social media expects them to be. A healthy person will not always have a toned body or big muscles and little fat. The conversation should be more about eating healthier foods, taking our vitamins and being more active. Our weight is influenced by our genetics as well, so to say that a specific weight is healthy is subjective.

Some may say that the body positivity movement is encouraging people to live an unhealthy lifestyle. The movement began to stop the bullying of people with different body sizes, which led many into following unhealthy alternatives to change their appearance. This is one of the reasons why people suffer from bulimia, anorexia and body dysmorphia. 

I think it is important for us to take the time and reflect on the way we have been doing things and where it has taken us now. Oftentimes, the reasoning people give for making comments about others’ appearance is that they want to help the ones around them and guide them into a healthier lifestyle. But, as a society, we need to ask ourselves if our methods have been successful. 

Our communities need people who feel confident and who feel like diversity is beautiful. That way, we can have a society that is caring and building each other up. Bullying people into solving problems will only cause a bigger problem. The best way to show people that we want the best for them is by encouraging self-love and motivating them to grow through compassion and kindness.