Is there such a thing as the perfect body type? For some, the obvious answer is “of course not.” After all, the growing body positivity movement promotes self-love for people of all shapes and sizes; no matter a person’s width, height, or weight, it’s those physical aspects that make people human.

However, this is not the case for most females who feel dissatisfied with their body. For female teenagers, body image is a major challenge. “Currently, there have been more calls for diversity in the emphasis on varying body types, shapes, and sizes. However, there are still pressures from social media, celebrities and of course, their peers on the perception of the way one “should” look, even if it is unattainable,” said Mrs. Carpenter, Chair of the Health Department at North.

Society has consistently portrayed an image of the “perfect body type” emphasizing what females should look like. But as the world evolved, so has this concept, thus giving birth to the Body Positivity Movement. And yet this movement is not as positive as it may seem. 

Furthermore, it is “especially [difficult] when you have all the other people in school to compare yourself to. [This makes it harder to] feel happy and content with your body [because] people are much more focused on what [they] look like on the outside [rather than what’s] inside” said Brielle Nassi, junior. 

The Body Positivity movement claims that people should love their body no matter the size. And yet this is an “impossible goal because it is natural to not love everything about our bodies and that if we did then we would just be lying to ourselves,” said Liora Kaya, junior. 

And so the world evolved once more and created the concept of body neutrality- the idea that we exist in our body without sheltering feelings that are negative nor positive. 

Body neutrality focuses on what your body does instead of its appearance. Instead of focusing on what your body should or already looks like, people can go back to the core of what a body is. A body allows a person to run to school, travel around the world, jump off an airplane, swim in the ocean, or to simply hug someone—the possibilities are endless. Since when have we forgotten the true purpose of why we have a body by instead using it to define who we are. The world has started to label us based on our bodies and the first thing we do when we look at someone is automatically judge them, whether it be intentionally or not. Instead, body neutrality gives a person the chance to see their bodies as a part of them instead of a whole. A body is simply a vehicle that gets you from one place to the other and when treated correctly that vehicle would be healthier and faster. 

The unrealistic goal to love your body is unattainable for most people. However, “as teens mature and become more accepting of who they are and what they look like, they will express a confidence not only for themselves, but one that sends a message to others,” said Mrs. Carpenter. With body neutrality, it’s okay to have contradicting feelings because your emotions are in between the love and hate that you have for your body: you’re simply neutral.