Body Positivity and its Fragility

Body Positivity was the first word that ever stuck out to me as a promise to society for a better future. It’s a good thing, I mean, it’s right there in the name, and I was so sure that because this movement was becoming more popular and gaining momentum, then soon enough, I’d be in the clear. There would be no more checking myself in the school bathroom mirror between classes, no more pits in my stomach when someone scanned me up in down in the hallways, and no more fear towards posting that family picture at the beach where I’m wearing a bikini. No more, no more, because body positivity promised us that if we accepted all our body types, it would take those obstacles away. It is a harsh lesson to learn that beauty standards are a foundation that grasps such a stronghold on our society. Body positivity has become just a blanket statement; something to be said but not responsibly enforced. Throughout changing generations, the concept of beauty trends is a blaring reminder of the fact there is always a standard that women are expected to abide by. There are communication tools that were meant to aid and have become vessels that send messages to the gender communities that there is a rubric set for those communities to respect. Body positivity is marketed as an unrealistic promise considering society encourages but won't reinforce it. 

Body Dysmorphia

Women are specifically targeted to can change and even categorize themselves into trends. One fact remains the same, there will always be a standard, and if there is a standard, there will be someone who does not meet it. The entities of media, capitalism, and gender/social dynamics all play their part in preventing the reality of Body positivity. An article from “The Verge” titled, “ Instagram internal research: We make body image issues worse for one in three girls" written by James Vincent. In this text, the subject of social media's negative influence on the especially vulnerable demographic,  young girls.

Women vs. The Beauty Standard

 

Instagram is the focus of this specific material. It shows evidence of the harsh effects of Instagram's culture on young girls; the point is that Instagram encourages comparison and, therefore, competitiveness as it pertains to body image. When discussing precisely how it affects young women, mental health plays a factor; the article reads, "Facebook found that among teens who said they had suicidal thoughts, 13 percent of UK users and 6 percent of US users said these impulses could be tracked back to the app." When looking at this data, one has to consider the severity of the comparison. The beauty trends for the female body type seem to be an "hourglass figure," So wide hips, thin stomach, and large upper body and lower body features such as breasts and butt. At the incredibly young age of about 13, I held myself to this same standard when I saw a model's picture on my explore page. I remember staring at the image for a long time and eventually liking it because it was what I wanted to look like; I wanted to be pretty. It felt as if beauty was all I should want to offer to the world because then I'd be well-liked and, more importantly, be happy. That's all it took, one like one time, and then pictures of beautiful models with hourglass figures flooded my entire feed. Many social media engines such as  Instagram pride themselves on allocating specific posts based on their users' interests, and the algorithm will proceed to issue commands to that particular account. Not a day went by where I would go on my account and not wince at their presence. The algorithm gives you no other choice but to look, to feel the pressure to become. The visuals consume you, and eleven if you think to turn your phone off, it will be there waiting for you the moment you get back. 

 The key detail here is that there is a marketing incentive that comes into play with this social media algorithm system. Companies take advantage of female insecurity that they perpetuate to make a profit. An article from “Feminism in India” concludes this issue, saying, “Other than the body positive movement being hijacked by capitalistic ventures to sell their products….” This hijacking is a process of isolating the average woman on these apps, flooding their feeds with images of eurocentric “perfect” bodies, and then displaying ads with skin creams, waist trainers, and vitamin pills such as it were. The article also proceeds to reinforce my point with this quote, “ While patriarchy keeps women under constant pressure and insecurities of looking “desirable,” capitalism profits off of those insecurities.” Women are subjected to these circumstances out of our control. The tragic hypothetical timeline of our lives takes us from the age at which we start to perceive ourselves, which averages around 8-9, until the day we die. Each day in between, we judge ourselves and other women around us. We say to ourselves, “ they dress like they don’t care, I wish I could do that,” or “My clothes don’t fit on me like that,” Constantly reevaluating ourselves to the male gaze that has been inflicted upon us since our youth. To make matters worse, when the movement of body positivity gained popularity, these very same companies turned around and sought another opportunity to turn a profit. They rebranded as “body positive,” with depictions of objectively “fat” women sometimes diverse, but often not. Body positivity is an ever-growing need for society. Still, the truth is it won’t be nearly as effective until we as a society readjust our need for restrictive beauty standards in the first place. Solidarity is the most vital aspect of this movement because only then could such improvements be made with the unity of the marginalized.

References

Vincent, James. “Instagram Internal Research: 'We Make Body Image Issues Worse for One in Three Teen Girls'.” The Verge. The Verge, September 15, 2021. https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/15/22675130/facebook-instagram-teens-mental-health-damage-internal-research.

Singhhttps://feminisminindia.com/author/prernas/, Prerna. “Loving Our Bodies Won't Solve Body Image Issues. Here's Why.” Feminism In India, May 11, 2021. https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/21/loving-bodies-wont-solve-body-image-issues/.