Body neutrality shifts attention away from cultural beauty standards. Instead, this mindset focuses on how you treat your body.
By Korin Miller: is a health and lifestyle journalist who has been published in The Washington Post, Prevention, SELF, Women's Health, The Bump, and Yahoo, among other outlets.
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Published on March 8, 2024
Over the past few years, there’s been a push from society to constantly “love” your body. Although that’s an improvement from trying to meet beauty standards laid down by society, it can be frustrating and unrealistic. After all, it’s hard to feel 100 percent about anything all of the time, including your body.
That’s where body neutrality comes into play. This practice encourages people to take a different path to a positive body image, focusing on elements like acceptance and respect for what your body can achieve without feeling the demand to love it all of the time.
Body neutrality has plenty of perks—there’s more freedom in embracing who you are, increased self-compassion, and less pressure—among other things, but it's not for everyone. So, what is body neutrality and how is it different from body positivity? Here’s the deal.
Body Positivity vs. Body Neutrality
Body positivity and body neutrality both have the goal of creating more positive body image for people, but they’re not the same thing.
“Body neutrality is being OK with the body that you’re in, even if you don’t feel OK about it,” says psychologist Thea Gallagher, PsyD, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health and co-host of the Mind in View podcast. “It also focuses on appreciating your body for what it does, and not how it looks.”
Body neutrality tries to take the focus away from your appearance, says Ashley Moser, LMFT, clinical education specialist at The Renfrew Center. “Body neutrality encourages gratitude for how the body helps us live our lives and interact with the world—dance, hug, and feel warmth of the sun. This then draws the focus away from what the body looks like,” she says.
Body positivity adds more emotion to the equation. “Body positivity is really loving your body,” Gallagher says. Moser adds, “Body positivity encourages radical acceptance and celebration of the body.”
Body Neutrality
Removes emotion from body image
Focuses on gratitude and function
Doesn't require loving your body
Body Positivity
Encourages loving your body, all of the time
Focuses on body parts
Involves emotion
Why Neutrality Matters
Body neutrality is usually seen as a more approachable and kinder way of looking at your body. “Constant body positivity can pose challenges, as it may set unrealistic expectations, creating another unachievable standard,” says Meredith Nisbet, LMFT, national clinical response manager at Eating Recovery Center and Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center. People can also find body positivity “overwhelming,” especially when they’re struggling with body image, she says.
Body neutrality works to shift attention away from societal beauty standards and focuses on how you treat your body. “Moving the focus away from how the body looks can have an overall positive impact on the way we treat our bodies,” Moser says. “Nourishing, moving, and caring for our bodies feels more attainable when we see it as the vessel for our lives than when we see it as the way we meet societal ideals and avoid negative feelings.”
But body image is a personal journey, and it’s important to find an approach that resonates with you. If body neutrality seems right for you, great. If body positivity feels more your speed, that’s fine, too. “Some people are just naturally more positive or optimistic about their bodies,” Gallagher says. “For other people, there are a lot more complicated feelings.”
How to Practice Body Neutrality
Surrounding yourself with people who value you as a person—and not based on how your body looks—is important, Gallagher says. But there are other steps you can take to practice body neutrality:
· Be kind to yourself. “Practicing kindness to oneself while diverting from harmful thought patterns is helpful,” Nisbet says.
· Know that it’s normal for body image to change. “Validate and normalize the ebbs and flows of body image,” Moser says. “Know that, just like everyone has days and feelings that exist on a spectrum, so do our feelings about ourselves and our bodies.”
· Limit how much you look in the mirror. If you find that you tend to be critical when you look at your appearance, Gallagher recommends cutting back on how often you check yourself out.
· Practice gratitude. That means keeping tabs on what your body does for you in your daily life, even if it doesn’t operate the same as the bodies of others. “Your body is worthy of respect and care, regardless of its abilities and size,” Moser says.
· Filter who you follow on social media. That means taking a pass on influencers who promote an unrealistic body standard and following people that promote body neutrality, Moser says.
· Be active. “Move your body in a way that feels good,” Gallagher says. “This can help you to feel connected with your body.”
· Turn negatives into something practical. If you find yourself hating on your legs, for example, Gallagher recommends replacing negative thoughts with observations, like that your legs are strong and allow you to walk around.
The Bottom Line
Practicing body neutrality opens the door for you to feel more compassionate about yourself. It also can help you feel less stressed and anxious about your body image. Becoming body neutral is a constant process, and it’s important to be patient with the journey. If you have negative thoughts or criticisms, don’t stress—it’s OK. This process takes time.
Overall, doing your best to accept yourself can help celebrate diversity and create a world where everyone feels comfortable and confident in their own skin—on their own terms.