https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z2w7dp3
This is an article I came across called “From New York to Instagram: The history of the body positivity movement.”
One of the main things that is seen here is how everyone talks about “love the skin you are in” This is because the body positivity movement is something that has been ongoing for a long time it has also brought along a lot of controversy because a lot of people believe that it promotes people to settle into being obese however people who agree with the movement have said that it is about helping people embrace self acceptance and not letting physical appearance be your entire self worth. Even though this is something we might see a lot of people are not familiar with, it is how the body positivity movement actually started. Tigress Osborn, who works with NAAFA (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) in the United States, is the organization that has helped shape the body positivity movement as it is today and how it has evolved worldwide. One thing that they talk about is the fact that every day of one’s life we are reminded that no one’s body is good enough, and this can come from a lot of different sources, even something as simple as a self-depicting text about themselves and their appearance, a diet company showing a new fad diet, a before and after picture of a diet, or an influencer. This is where body positivity comes in, reminding us that our bodies are actually okay and that accepting and loving our bodies is more important than what we look like. It is important that we understand we have to block out the toxic culture that makes us feel hatred for ourselves. This can also be a form of fighting against self-esteem; it is a form of questioning capitalism, patriarchy, fat-phobic, sexist, racist, and ableist (had to look this up).
The origins of the body positivity movement trace back to the fat rights movement in 1969. It began when Bill Fabrey, an engineer in New York, was upset by how people mistreated his wife, Joyce, because of her size. After reading an article by Lew Louderback about discrimination against fat people, Fabrey shared it widely. He later formed a supportive group called the National Association to aid fat Americans, now known as NAAFA, which remains central to the cause. On the West Coast, Californian feminists organized their own activism for fat liberation, creating the ‘fat underground.’ Their 1973 fat manifesto demanded equal rights for fat people and opposed the diet industry. As fat activism grew, it drew inspiration from civil rights and other liberation movements, recognizing connections between different types of oppression. However, early fat activism failed to include people of color, mistakenly believing their communities were more accepting, which led to exclusion within the movement.
This was a movement that continued growing and gaining more force by the time of the 1980s, when there was a lot of enthusiasm when it came to fat liberation and being seen all over the world, one of the greatest ones is the London fat women’s group, which acted in the mid-80s and was active for years. There was different vocabulary because body positivity was not something that existed in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but there were activists who talked about the diet industry being a scam. By the 90s, it was a huge movement protesting in the White House and having protests in gyms, and also taking part in the San Francisco pride parade, where they talked about loving their bodies, and this made people feel inspired to love their bodies no matter how they looked.
There was also a movement that began in the 2000s, in which bodies were presented online in larger formats. This was because of the online idea and how body shame and love were seen or presented. This, however, began in the 90s through chat rooms, which were their form of social media, and created an activist community. Later on, it went through Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as hashtags, to build stronger connections. People who were considered fat started to have their own role as them bringing in fat visibility as a form of activism such as the creation of people presenting OOTD showing their own way of moving through life even though there is a other of back lash with this as well. There is also vocabulary such as “fierce fatties” to call themselves more confidently, and new forms of digital companies on social networks, such as websites about self-love, one of which was created in 2012.
Body positivity became a social media movement and has led to changes like body acceptance, self-love, and more, and it has been used in a number of movements. There are two sides; some people are fitness influencers, and others want people to love their bodies as they are. However, most of the people who talk about this are people who are considered to have imperfect bodies, or who are fat influencers. This, however, has led to a lot of controversy, and it has been said that they are telling people that it is okay to be obese. However, this has become a movement controlled by certain people, and the people who originally started it have lost their voice.
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