Positioning the body: Black womanhood, beauty and exploring body neutrality

Within current discourse around beauty standards and body politics, the concept of ‘body neutrality’ has been offered an alternative to the concept of ‘body positivity’. Rather than heavy emphasis on the ‘self-love’ of one’s body, or loving one’s perceived ‘flaws’ or features, body neutrality suggests we think of our bodies as vessels that allow us to do work in the world. The concept of body neutrality moves beyond thinking of bodies as things to be looked at, appraised or ‘loved’. Black women’s relationship to concepts of beauty and body politics has always been complex and contentious. The bodies of Black women and femmes have historically been marginalized, othered and/or erased. In this article, I ask: what about Black women’s relationship to the concept of body neutrality? What are the stakes of Black women taking on a body neutral stance? Through a Black feminist framework, I explore the utility of ‘body neutrality’. I argue that while body neutrality may offer a useful way for individual people to heal body negative sentiments, a more structural, subversive critique is needed for the liberation of Black women and all oppressed peoples. I maintain that it is difficult for Black women to lay claim to body neutrality. Bodies should not matter, but Black women’s bodies are always seen in political and socio-historical contexts. Ultimately, in exploring the contours and limits of the concept of body neutrality as mapped onto Black women’s bodies, I contribute to transdisciplinary conversations around race, gender, body politics and beauty.