When I think about body liberation, I envision something so much bigger than just my body on this earth. However, today, I want to discuss how body liberation can show up for us personally and what it might mean for you and your body, just as it means something different for me and mine. In this article, I'm not talking about body liberation as an overarching understanding of the world – even though there is so much more to it like that.

What is Body Liberation?

Body liberation goes far beyond body positivity, body neutrality, or body acceptance. At its core, it's not just about respecting various bodies but also celebrating them, finding joy in them, and discovering pleasure within them. All these elements together can make up a person's body liberation journey.

Let’s talk about some of the ways that I have found body liberation in my own life over the past several years…

Four Ways I've Found Body Liberation

1. Learning My Body's Needs, Joys, Dislikes, and Hard Limits

This one is quite vast and rather diverse – it's not just one thing. My journey began in 2017 during my early recovery from an eating disorder. I started challenging my understanding and beliefs about my body on social media, especially regarding being fat and black. At that point, I wasn't yet challenging my understanding of my gender, which is something I've come to explore more in the past couple of years.

Really learning what my body needs to eat every day or wants to eat every day. And what movement or what food makes my body happy and feeling strong. 

But also, what kind of things does my body absolutely dislike? So maybe I don't like going on walks when it's really hot, but I could go on a walk if it were springtime. 

Maybe I really, really, really enjoy eating Brussels sprouts, but I can't stand dragon fruit for the life of me.

The ongoing learning of what your body likes and needs is a journey. 

For example, how many meals does it take in a day in order for you to feel satisfied and satiated?

Then, what it comes down to is, does your body have any hard limits? Please note all of our bodies have hard limits. It's just whether we choose to respect our body's hard limits. That likely means that I don’t choose to go run a marathon on a given Tuesday when I haven't trained for it. No, that would be a hard limit for my body. Another hard limit for my body would be walking up copious amounts of stairs without taking a break in between.

Over time, We can learn what these hard limits are for our bodies. For some of us, some might be considered physical disabilities, while others are personal choices. 

Diving deep into what my body needs and likes has been a crucial part of my own body liberation journey.

Key Points:

• Your own personal daily nutritional needs and preferences

• What forms of movement do you find enjoyable

• Your personal likes and dislikes

• Satisfaction and satiation by varying activities or meals

• Recognizing and respecting your body’s hard limits

2. Following People Who Challenge Me on Social Media

When I'm scrolling through social media and encounter a post featuring a body that makes me uncomfortable due to unfamiliarity (for whatever reason), I try to actively follow and learn from the person and content on that account. The post itself could have made me uncomfortable due to seeing someone unlike me, maybe with a chronic illness, a physical disability, a fatter body, or a different ethnicity or race than me.

I actively follow accounts like these because I recognize that I need to learn more from these individuals and they challenge me to think and process outside my own comfort zone. And by having them show up more in my social media feed, I'm better able to:

• Learn from a variety of different people and diverse experiences

• Expand my understanding of humanity, identity, and whatever it means to be a human in this world

• Make space in my life, mind, and understanding for a wider range of people I hadn’t previously encountered

3. Learning the History Behind the Body Liberation Movement

There's a lot of misinformation out there about the body liberation movement, how it started, where it began, and who initiated it. While I won't dive deeply into this in this blog post, it's important to note that the movement's origins are, in fact, well-documented. I encourage you to seek out more information and learn about what caused it to grow and develop.

Learning the actual history of body liberation – what it is and what it was always meant to be – has been extremely liberating. It has truly helped me to understand:

• My place in the movement as a non-binary, Queer, Fat, Black human

• How I can contribute to the continued development and growth of the movement for years and years to come. Until we are all living a life that not only respects our bodies but frees us wholly.

4. Sharing Knowledge and Creating Learning Opportunities

This aspect of my journey looks different in various places. It originally started solely on social media, where I shared my experiences, life lessons, and educational background. However, I realized that while social media is great for what it does, it doesn't always provide a cohesive collection of information or teach what people need on a deeper level.

Recognizing this need, I:

• Published a book called "What's the Story?": It is a guided journal/workbook that walks the reader through their own body image and body liberation journey.

• Within the book, I created several resources for deeper learning and understanding. These materials cover a wide range of topics like identity, body image issues, personal liberation, and so much more on a deeper level.

I truly believe that by writing and publishing this book, I'm allowing people to learn about their own bodies and liberation journeys. They can explore where they feel stuck, where they have room for growth, and do so at their own pace while feeling guided through what can be an honestly scary process.

Final Thoughts

We can do so much work on ourselves – deep digging, photo taking, and journaling. But if we're not actively learning about ourselves, our journeys, and our bodies – what they're really here for – we're missing a crucial part of the process. Body liberation is an ongoing journey of discovery and growth, unique to each individual yet connected to a larger movement of acceptance and celebration.

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If you're looking for other articles I've written for QueerPsych, you can find them here! Or, if you want to talk more about this topic, I'd be happy to chat with you in my DMs on Instagram. You can find me at @thefriendineverwanted.