Over the past few years, there’s been a push from society to constantly “love” your body. Although that’s an improvement from trying to meet beauty standards laid down by society, it can be frustrating and unrealistic. After all, it’s hard to feel 100 percent about anything all of the time, including your body.

Body Positivity vs. Body Neutrality
Body positivity and body neutrality both have the goal of creating more positive body image for people, but they’re not the same thing.

“Body neutrality is being OK with the body that you’re in, even if you don’t feel OK about it,” says psychologist Thea Gallagher, PsyD, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health and co-host of the Mind in View podcast. “It also focuses on appreciating your body for what it does, and not how it looks.”

Body neutrality tries to take the focus away from your appearance, says Ashley Moser, LMFT, clinical education specialist at The Renfrew Center. “Body neutrality encourages gratitude for how the body helps us live our lives and interact with the world—dance, hug, and feel warmth of the sun. This then draws the focus away from what the body looks like,” she says.

Body positivity adds more emotion to the equation. “Body positivity is really loving your body,” Gallagher says. Moser adds, “Body positivity encourages radical acceptance and celebration of the body.”

Body Neutrality
Removes emotion from body image
Focuses on gratitude and function
Doesn't require loving your body
Body Positivity
Encourages loving your body, all of the time
Focuses on body parts
Involves emotion
Why Neutrality Matters
Body neutrality is usually seen as a more approachable and kinder way of looking at your body. “Constant body positivity can pose challenges, as it may set unrealistic expectations, creating another unachievable standard,” says Meredith Nisbet, LMFT, national clinical response manager at Eating Recovery Center and Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center. People can also find body positivity “overwhelming,” especially when they’re struggling with body image, she says.

Body neutrality works to shift attention away from societal beauty standards and focuses on how you treat your body. “Moving the focus away from how the body looks can have an overall positive impact on the way we treat our bodies,” Moser says. “Nourishing, moving, and caring for our bodies feels more attainable when we see it as the vessel for our lives than when we see it as the way we meet societal ideals and avoid negative feelings.”

But body image is a personal journey, and it’s important to find an approach that resonates with you. If body neutrality seems right for you, great. If body positivity feels more your speed, that’s fine, too. “Some people are just naturally more positive or optimistic about their bodies,” Gallagher says. “For other people, there are a lot more complicated feelings.”