We’ve told you before about the body positive movement and body positivity, which seek to change the stereotypes and stigma around negative body images and encourage people to accept themselves, and their bodies, for who they are.
Social media has turned into a bit of a battleground for body positivity. On one side, they are platforms to promote healthier attitudes around body sizes, shapes, abilities and conditions. But, at the same time, the ability to remain virtually anonymous in social media allows detractors and haters to body shame people without consequence.
A Review of Body Positivity on 3 Social Media Platforms
While the discussion takes place on all popular social media, (yes, including LinkedIn!), we’ve reviewed hashtags and trends on the following platforms because they are the leading image-based social media.
Instagram - It’s the social platform where the first wave of body positive images were promoted. Ashley Graham used Instagram to famously post untouched images of herself, particularly her cellulite. Demi Lovato not only revealed her cellulite, but she got #celluLIT about it too! But maybe being early to the game has made the body positive movement too popular on Instagram, and not necessarily in a good way. A recent search for the hashtag #bodypostive showed it was being used by more coaches and fitness enthusiasts who were looking to promote their posts with the popular hashtag, versus people celebrating their normal bodies.
YouTube - As always, YouTube has something for everyone. We found a playlist of body-positive songs, a mini-documentary on body positivity, and a debate trying to answer the question “can body-positive & fitness enthusiasts find a middle ground?”.
TikTok - The relative newcomer in the social media crowd, TikTok may be the best place to see and hear regular people, the kind of people that the body positive movement tries to encourage. Yes, TikTok’s demographic is a little younger than most, but our search for #bodypositivity brought results from males and females in their teens and their 40s and 50s, and more ethnic diversity than we notice on any of the other social media we looked at.
Being body positive and unashamed of your cellulite doesn't mean you have to stop wanting to improve its appearance. Compression shapewear, like Active Slim Compression Leggings, are clinically-proven to help reduce the appearance of cellulite and reduce inches in targeted areas of your body.
