The Case for Body Neutrality

I believe I’m speaking for most women when I say that there have been times when we’ve been less than satisfied with our appearances. When the concept of body positivity started gaining popularity 10 years ago, it challenged the unrealistic standards of feminine beauty.

Women were encouraged to think positive, and embrace and love their bodies as they are. While it’s a great movement to motivate us to accept our bodies, flaws and all, it’s easier said than done for many of us. The focus is still on our appearances, and to forcibly accept what we don’t love can be a tall order.

This is why at Her World, we want to talk about body neutrality while embracing body positivity. The former is about focusing on what your body can do for you, and not the way it looks. The main goal for these movements is to improve psychological well-being, so I believe there’s a place for different schools of thoughts to co-exist.

While we celebrate women like Amanda Lee (page 20) who is confident about flaunting her curves, we also want to create a space where women such as the inspiring five we’ve featured on page 84 are just grateful for healthy bodies, despite the different forms they take.

Reading the 12-page spread brought a smile to my face. Not only are their stories incredibly empowering, I find them so beautiful too. My teammates were similarly inspired, and it’s only fitting to include their thoughts and takeaways here.

“The experiences of these women made me realise my body privilege and relook just how much more we can do to be more inclusive as a society.” – SOPHIE HONG, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

“I’m happy that women are starting to embrace their body types because, at the end of the day, everyone is human, and we should be grateful for everything that we’ve been blessed with.” – DEBBY KWONG, ASSOCIATE FASHION EDITOR

“Working on this story reminded me to appreciate my body for what it can do, not what it looks like. I like that it focuses on acceptance and letting the things you can’t change, be.” – ADORA WONG, SENIOR WRITER

Style adviser Amanda Lee on how fashion has empowered her to feel good in her skin, pg 20

Monica (left) and Syakirah (right) made a choice to appreciate what their bodies do, and not how they look, pg 84