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Meet the Dublin woman encouraging thousands of Irish people to 'be kinder to their bodies'
YOU’VE PROBABLY heard the phrase ‘body positivity’ (or BoPo) being used a lot lately. But what is it, and does it apply to your body? Yes, of course.
‘Body positivity’ is the simple idea that ALL bodies – fat, thin, hairy, wobbly, whatever – are equally valuable, and Dublin woman Rebecca Flynn is trying to get Irish people on board.
Facebook / Body Positive Ireland Facebook / Body Positive Ireland / Body Positive Ireland
Rebecca discovered the body positivity movement a couple of years ago after following fashion blogger Edith Dohmen, and subsequently sought out more women with similar views.
“The more I watched, followed and read, the more I realised how diet culture and societally imposed beauty standards had hurt me,” she told DailyEdge.ie.
With this in mind, she set up the Body Positive Ireland Facebook page, where she posts inspiring articles, artwork, and ‘self-esteem selfies’, touching on everything from fashion to weightlifting to body hair.
In the caption for this photo, for example, she discusses the pressure many women feel to be perfectly plucked and shaven before going to the swimming pool.
Facebook / Body Positive Ireland Facebook / Body Positive Ireland / Body Positive Ireland
Since having a little boy, she writes, she just doesn’t have the time to worry about it anymore:
The BoPo Ireland Facebook page currently has over 2,000 followers, with 750 more on Instagram – and Rebecca tells DailyEdge.ie that the reaction has been “really wonderful” so far.
She understands that Irish people can be quite reserved when it comes to matters like this, what with the national fear of people thinking you’re “full of yourself”.
“I’ve been so uncomfortable with a lot of things on my BoPo journey,” she continued. “But I choose to sit with that discomfort and use it as an opportunity to learn.”
With the page, Rebecca wants to challenge the notion that body positivity is just “someone dancing naked in front of a mirror shouting I AM THE BIGGEST BABE TO WALK THE EARTH” – but if you do feel that way, that’s amazing too.
“It’s mainly about unlearning what we’ve been taught to think about bodies and the idea that we should always be striving to be smaller or more perfect,” she says.
Amen to that.
You can follow Rebecca and Body Positive Ireland on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (its_r2theb).
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body positive body positive ireland body positivity every body is a good body rebecca flynn