The Problem of Japan’s Unaddressed Rape Culture

Body Positivity: Accepting Yourself in a World That Tells You Not To

Erika Marie Hasunuma

Many people have struggled or are struggling with body image. Societies place value on certain body types, skin tones, facial features, hair texture, and virtually anything else that makes up one’s appearance. While beauty standards can vary by region, culture, and country, these standards inevitably exist and are usually understood by the majority of the population. Something that can counteract the negative effects of unrealistic beauty standards is body positivity.

As a movement, body positivity has its roots in the Fat Rights Movement and the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) that was founded by Bill Fabrey in 1969. Both diet culture and companies that pushed for “reduction” (weight loss) were criticized by the original movement, just like in the current movement. Progressing towards modern day, women of color and LGBTQ+ people have helped spread and popularize the concept of body positivity and unapologetically accepting your body. Though their story is often left untold, today’s body positivity owes a lot to these original activists.

Of course, body positivity can mean different things to different people, but at its core, it is about being positive about your body—especially in a world that tells you not to be. Though the primary focus of body positivity is most often weight, physical characteristics such as skin tone, eye shape, hair texture, and more have always played a part in beauty standards. Certainly, it is important to honor the history of the body positivity movement, but that does not mean body positivity cannot be utilized in an even more inclusive manner. Effectively, body positivity can be considered something broader: accepting your body and all characteristics of it—weight, skin tone, hair texture and color, eye shape, nose shape, and so much more.

The reason it’s so important to think of body positivity in this all-inclusive manner is because we live in a world that is constantly telling us that something is wrong with our appearance. Everywhere, there is something reminding us that we need to be thinner or thicker, have lighter skin, have different facial features, and much more. Even just riding on the train in Japan, you’ve probably seen advertisements for diet smoothies, weightloss gyms, or makeup products for lighter skin. To me, it’s scary that a person of average or even below-average weight can be considered fat in Japan. In addition to weight, there are many other perfectly normal and beautiful aspects of one’s appearance that societies and companies have categorized as “flaws.” For instance, some people of East Asian descent get surgery to make their monolids into double eyelids. Some people of color attempt to lighten their darker skin tones or feel pressured to straighten their beautiful natural hair. Though I wholeheartedly support the idea of “my body my choice,” when body alterations (especially permanent and potentially harmful or dangerous ones) are made from a place of negativity and even hatred, there is clearly a huge problem. Companies that market fad diets, skinny pills, bleach for your skin, plastic surgeries to fix “flaws,” and other appearance-altering products or services are often feeding off insecurities that they themselves help foster amongst the public.

While it is arguably more widespread within advertisements targeting women and female beauty standards, it is vital to recognize that this “flaw culture” affects everyone. Men are target-