Body Positivity vs. Body Neutrality: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve spent any time on social media, you’ve probably seen body positivity and body neutrality talked about as if they’re competing ideas. One tells you to “love your body 24/7,” the other tells you to “you never need to feel positive about your body” And if neither of those messages fully land for you, you’re not alone.
Here’s the truth that often gets missed: body positivity isn’t a feeling you’re required to have about your body. It’s a value system. And body neutrality isn’t the opposite of body positivity — it actually lives underneath the body positive umbrella.
Let’s slow this down and clear up the confusion.
What Body Positivity Actually Is
Body positivity started as a social justice movement created by fat activists and disabled folks who were pushing back against discrimination, stigma, and harm. At its core, body positivity is about challenging the belief that bodies must look a certain way to deserve respect, care, or dignity.
That’s it.
Body positivity is not:
Loving how your body looks every day
Feeling confident every time you look in the mirror
Forcing yourself to “see the good” when you’re hurting
Instead, body positivity is a value system — the belief that:
All bodies are worthy of respect, regardless of size, ability, hair, scars, weight changes, or appearance
Your worth as a human being is not determined by how you look
You do not need to earn kindness toward yourself by changing your appearance
Under this framework, how you feel about your body can change overtime — and you’re still doing body positive work.
Where Body Neutrality Fits In
Body neutrality is often presented as a replacement for body positivity, especially for people who feel exhausted by the pressure to “love their body.” But here’s the reframe that tends to be deeply relieving for my clients:
Body neutrality is one approach that falls underneath the body positive value system.
Body neutrality says:
You don’t have to like your body to respect it
Your body doesn’t have to be the center of your identity
You can focus on what your body allows you to do as a whole, or simply let it exist
Your feelings about your body don’t need to be positive or negative
For many people — especially those living with chronic illness, disability, hair loss, eating disorders, or long histories of body shame — neutrality can feel more accessible and more honest.
On hard days, body neutrality might sound like:
“I don’t love my body today, and that’s okay. Feelings are always changing.”
“I am observing that I don’t feel ‘attractive’ right now.”
“I can care for my body even when I feel disconnected from it.”
And that is still body positive.
Why This Distinction Matters
When body positivity gets reduced to a feeling instead of a value system, it can become just as oppressive as diet culture.
Suddenly people feel like they’re failing if they:
Still struggle with body image
Feel grief or anger toward their body
Don’t resonate with affirmations
Aren’t ready to love what they see
But body positive work isn’t about emotional perfection. It’s about dismantling the belief that your body must meet certain standards to be worthy.
Body neutrality gives you permission to opt out of constant self-evaluation. It offers rest from the idea that your body needs to be a project. And for many people, it’s a powerful step toward healing.
You Don’t Have to Pick One Forever
Another important piece that often gets overlooked: your relationship with your body can shift over time.
You might move between:
Body neutrality on most days
Body respect when things feel tender
Body appreciation in certain moments
Body acceptance when your body is working the way you want
None of these invalidate the others.
Healing isn’t linear, and there is no “right” way to relate to your body. The goal isn’t to feel a certain way — it’s to live in a way that causes less harm and more compassion toward yourself so that you can reduce preoccupation with body thoughts and use that energy for the things that truly matter to you.
A Gentler Reframe
So if you’ve ever thought:
“I can’t do body positivity because I don’t love my body,” or
“Body neutrality feels safer, but I don’t want to reject body positivity,”
You don’t have to choose.
Body positivity is a value system that says ALL bodies are good bodies. Your worth never changes, regardless of how your body changes throughout my life.
Body neutrality is one of the ways you can live in alignment with this value.
And wherever you are today — neutral, frustrated, disconnected, or at peace — you’re allowed to be there.
That, in itself, is body positive.
Looking for body image support? I am currently accepting therapy clients in New York. Feel free to schedule consultation here or learn more about body image counseling here
