Video by Mira Ciganek | June 18, 2022

“We’ve got a culture of immense body negativity and toxicity,” said Melainie Rogers, a certified dietician and founder of Balance eating-disorder treatment center. Rogers described the recent pushback against unrealistic and harmful beauty standards so often perpetuated in mainstream media and everyday life. For many, this has taken the form of body positivity, a  movement that promotes love and acceptance of one’s body, regardless of its size or shape.

But for many that is neither an attainable nor a desirable goal. “People need a step in between,” Rogers said. “And so that’s really where body neutrality came from.” Body neutrality shifts the focus from appearance toward ability, experiences, outside relationships, and more.

This short film follows Rogers and two body-image activists, Yasmeen and Matt. Together they share personal experiences with eating disorder recovery and answer the question: What is body neutrality?