Most of you have heard the term “body positivity” thrown around lately on social media. With that term, you may associate it with plus size women, shaming skinny women, or making an excuse to dismiss people’s health problems. That is because you may not know what body positivity is really about.

Body positivity has been turned into a negative movement because people have failed to understand what it is and what it stands for time and time again. People have even been very quick to call it a crazy, feminist, SJW movement and dismiss it without realizing that body positivity is much more than that.

Many make the assumption that body positivity is only geared towards plus size women and think that skinny women are being shamed. This is definitely not what body positivity is about. Body positivity is about everyone — no matter what size, gender, sexuality, political party, disability, race, or religion they are — loving their body and who they are and feeling like they are beautiful. Body positivity was not made to discriminate women or even men who are skinny or in shape. It was made for them to feel beautiful too. Body positivity does not discriminate or exclude anyone for their body shape. If you see someone shaming someone who is skinny or in shape or saying that bigger girls are better, that is not body positivity and they do not truly stand for it. That is hatred and negativity that body positivity does not encourage. Whoever says these things are rude individuals who have nothing better to do than to make people feel bad about themselves. Skinny women and men deserve just as much love and respect for themselves and their bodies as bigger women and men do.

This movement isn’t strictly just for women either, this is for men too. Sadly, many people seem to think that men do not have body image issues and just assume they are naturally okay and happy with their bodies. Of course, there are men out there that are like that, but that is not the case for many men. Men get compared to models and actors that are tall, muscular, and that women swoon over all the time. This leads to men wanting to be more attractive, have more muscle, be smaller, or maybe even bigger. I even hear my male friends wish they could change their bodies quite frequently. Men are not excluded from body positivity for that reason. Men deserve to love themselves and their bodies just like women do.

Body positivity also has nothing to do with someone’s health issues. There have been numerous people on social media blabbing their mouths off about how body positivity is just an excuse for bigger people to not do anything about their health issues. Yes, some bigger people do have health issues due to their size, but body positivity does not focus on that. Having health issues does not mean you do not qualify to feel beautiful or good about your body. There are even skinny people that have health issues due to their size. It is understood that health issues must be taken care of, but that is between the individual and their doctor, not you and your judgment. Body positivity keeps these people with health issues feeling a little more positive, confident, and hopeful about their health issues being healed and taken care of no matter what size they are.

Body positivity is not some skinny-shaming, feminist, SJW, plus-size movement made to only lift the confidence of plus size women or made to excuse their health problems. Body positivity is a movement for all body sizes and for all kinds of people. Body positivity is not meant to leave people out and be exclusive. It is inclusive of all ages, races, sizes, genders, and so on. Before you take the time to believe what people may be falsely saying about body positivity, take the time to learn what it really is and what it is about. You may even love what it stands for and start to advocate for it yourself.

Never forget that you are beautiful and you can do amazing things. That is what body positivity is all about.