Empowering body neutrality quotes from celebs and influencers

Body neutrality can mean different things to different people. But essentially, it’s about focusing on all the amazing things your body can do for you rather than what it actually looks like.

For instance, think about how strong your arms and legs are, rather than their size. Most importantly, when you practise body neutrality, you won’t feel guilty or ashamed on the days when you don’t feel like loving any part of yourself.

Not to be mistaken for body positivity, which encourages people to celebrate their bodies in every way, body neutrality means that you don’t have to love or hate your body. This concept asks you to think of your body as a temple that offers you much more than being judged on appearance alone.

Body neutrality has been getting lots of attention lately as more start to question whether body positivity can ironically lead to accidental body scrutiny, and create unnecessary pressure and anxiety. While the body positivity movement has good intentions, it’s not always all that realistic and attainable in a society where we receive so many mixed messages about what an “ideal” body should look like. 

Body neutrality provides an opportunity for a middle ground — we don’t have to choose to love or hate our bodies. Supporters of the movement including Christy Chung’s 23-year-old daughter Yasmine Ross want us to recognise that our bodies are vehicles that, when treated with care and respect, can help us navigate life in a way that brings us happiness.

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In May, Yasmine posted a photo of herself in lingerie on Instagram along with a caption about her journey toward body neutrality.

“I’ve definitely gone through a love-hate relationship with my body, moments where I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin, times where I blame it for not functioning in the way I’d like it to, or even embarrassed for the way it presents itself,” Yasmine admitted.

“(But) by feeding it nutritious meals, taking it out on walks, listening to its needs, (I’m able to) create a much more loving relationship with my body. And in turn, a beautiful sense of coming home.”

Ming Bridges

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The local singer-songwriter has been battling hypothyroidism, which is characterised by slow metabolism since she was 23. In a 2015 interview with The New Paper, Ming opened up about the struggles of dealing with not just the physical impact, but also mental wellness issues like depression and anxiety.

“The weight gain definitely took a toll on me. Some of my acquaintances couldn’t even recognise me… I was insecure, depressed, and in a very low place,” she said. “The fact is that in the music industry, especially Mandopop, weight is very important. When netizens started commenting on my Instagram (about her weight gain), I took it personally and became emotional.

I was feeling tired all the time and despite going on extreme diets and doing lots of exercise, I was still putting on weight,” she added. “I felt like a failure, because no matter how hard I tried, nothing was working. When I was 80kg, I reached a point where I didn’t want to do anything. I almost didn’t want to tell my fans because I was ashamed I was ill.”

After her diagnosis, Ming decided to shift her perspective — from desperately trying to lose weight, to taking care of herself.

“One of the positive things that came out of this whole weight gain ordeal is that it made me redefine my relationship with myself. It’s important to love yourself, to know you are a kind person and you have the love of your family. We live in a culture where everyone wants to see amazing bikini bods and fast body transformations. It makes us feel that’s what counts in life. But it isn’t,” she said.

What she wants you to know: “I’d say I’m pretty healthy, I work out, I have stomach fat, it’s completely normal. I try my best to detach meaning to how my body looks but it’s a daily battle. I try not to let the media trick me into feeling like there’s something wrong with how I look – as long I’m healthy and feel good I don’t see what the problem is.”

Mary Victor

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Her World Tribe member and makeup artist Mary Victor wrote about how her relationship with her body changed with time in an inspiring essay. In it, she opened up about how hard it is to be content with the body you have.

“It took me a few years to accept who I am and gain the confidence, following years of bullying in secondary school – all because I’m a plus-sized girl.”

Mary, who founded the #thebodywithin movement on Instagram to advocate self-love ended her essay with the suggestion that, as hard as it may be, we need to learn to appreciate our bodies. “Every day, I tell myself that I can control my life… The message I’m sending across to women is: Understand that no matter how you look, you’re beautiful in your own special way.”

Mary’s message is firmly rooted in body neutrality, instead of militant positivity, which she says can be toxic. “We might end up being overly positive that we forget that we still need to validate our negative feelings”, she told CNA Lifestyle.

Her advice? “Listening to ourselves even on a bad day might actually help us heal a lot more. That’s body neutrality – it focuses on appreciating what amazing things your body does for you and teaches you to accept the changes your body goes through.”

What she wants you to know: “Listening to ourselves even on a bad day might actually help us heal a lot more.”

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Cheryl Tay

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“I grew up thinking I wasn’t good enough, and I used to feel inferior about myself… I had grouses about my body — boobs too small, legs too thick, arms too flabby, butt too big, face not pretty — but my extroverted nature concealed how I really felt about myself,” Cheryl Tay, freelance journalist and founder of body image movement Rock The Naked Truth, once told The New Paper.

To lose weight, Cheryl spent thousands of dollars on weight loss programmes and even succumbed to diuretics and laxatives. It wasn’t until she hired a personal trainer that she saw a positive change in her body. Through Rock The Naked Truth, Cheryl hopes that “people will open up and share so that we can become healthy together.”

The group has regular meet-ups and monthly exercise sessions. “We want people to love themselves and learn to accept that their bodies are not meant to be of another shape. And we want everyone to be fit, healthy and happy,” she added.

What she wants you to know: “Fitness has also shown me how amazing the body can be and now I’m just proud of what the body can do… and no longer worry about how it should look.”

Rui En

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To play the role of Chen Zhenhao in the 2016 series If Only I Could — for which she received a nomination for the Best Actress Award at the 2017 Star Awards — Rui En packed on 7kg. In an interview with The New Paper, the actress revealed that her weight gain made her more aware of fat- and body-shaming.

“I actually felt ashamed initially, even though I knew it was for the show. But then I realised, “Why should I be ashamed?”… Why should women be judged by their weight, the size of the dress they wear, their age or how much plastic surgery they have done? It’s ridiculous,” she said.

What she wants you to know: “Why should women be judged by their weight, the size of the dress they wear, their age or how much plastic surgery they have done? It’s ridiculous.”

Naomi Watanabe

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Similarly, Japanese comedian and fashion icon Naomi Watanabe has been an advocate for body neutrality. For Naomi, body neutrality is about valuing yourself as more than just your appearance.

“It is true that I am told I have a large body, and I accept jobs with the understanding that I may be ridiculed for how I look,” she told The Asahi Shimbun. “But I am actually happy with this body shape, so I want to continue expressing myself as ‘Naomi Watanabe’ without focusing only on being fat.”

ALSO READ: Plus-sized model Mary Victor started an IG movement for body positivity

Jolin Tsai

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As if the Taiwanese pop diva’s music video for “Ugly Beauty” wasn’t inspiring enough, Jolin Tsai also gave us an amazing piece of self-love advice. At the launch of her 2019 album Ugly Beauty, the singer said, “I didn’t know what beautiful means. I look around and saw a lot of beautiful girls, but thought that I was the ugliest.”

At one point in the early days of her career, she thought she looked fat even though she weighed only 45kg. “I used to be called fat, seafood sauce, squid, my facial features were called strange… when I was walking down the street during that time, when people looked at me, I would think that everyone hated me,” she said.

But things took a turn for the singer. What helped the singer keep things positive? Positive affirmation. Jolin now values the balance between her body and mind and doesn’t allow criticism of others to consume her. She shared in the same press conference that she’s learnt not to be so hard on herself.

What she wants you to know: “When your heart is full, you won’t feel the need to compare yourself with others.”

Selina Jen

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The Taiwanese singer and one-third of the popular girl group S.H.E saw her career take off in the early 2000s, but stardom didn’t come without a slew of critics picking apart her appearance.

On an episode of the talk show “The Egg” that she hosts, Selina shared about how she was met with an onslaught of hateful comments about her body following an unfortunate accident in 2010 where she suffered third-degree burns on 50 percent of her body.

“There are still people who’d leave comments calling me a roasted pig.” Selina added that while it is true that she had been burnt badly in the accident and that she “really did gain weight, and resembled a pig”, the comments broke her heart.

While she sometimes struggles with body image, she tries not to let it rule her life. On the same episode of The Egg, Selina took the opportunity to share some advice with the guests and viewers: “You will definitely face similar things as well.

It’s been 20 years since my debut, and it’s likely that you’ll encounter similar incidents too. The next time you’re scolded by such haters, just know that you’re not alone, because Selina faced the same things as well.”

What she wants you to know: “The next time you’re scolded by such haters, just know that you’re not alone, because Selina faced the same things as well.”

Cecilia Cheung

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Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung knows a thing or two about tabloid scrutiny, having been the subject of multiple pregnancy rumours throughout her extensive career.

Earlier this year, the “King of Comedy” star and mother-of-three made it clear that she isn’t bothered by naysayers, and declared that self-confidence is one of the most important qualities a celebrity should possess.

What she wants you to know: “Never doubt yourself. You can be pretty, talented and hardworking, but without confidence, it’s useless (in this line of work).”

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This article was first published in Her World Online.