ISSUES
: Body Confidence
Chapter 1: Body Image
17
Nine body positive social media
campaigns that are changing how we
perceive beauty both in and outside the
fashion world
By Erin McKelle Fischer
I
t’s no secret that the fashion
industry has long been a culprit
of body shame, with thin, white,
photoshopped models having
become the norm for almost 20
years, and the rest of us not in that
demographic being pushed into
the margins. But there are body
positive social media campaigns
combatting this narrow image of
beauty – catering to the majority of
women (and men) and redefining
what ‘beautiful’ actually means.
And the good news is that things
are actually starting to change. This
year, plus-size models were seen
taking over the runways of Fashion
Week, diversity in fashion became
more prevalent (although much
work remains to be done), and the
word ‘fat’ began to lose its status
as a ‘bad’ or ‘insulting’ term. Yay,
progress!
When we see a shift in cultural
attitudes, the question everyone
always asks is why. Why is it that
sizeism is starting to become
less socially acceptable and our
relationships with body image a
little less toxic? There’s no surefire
answer, of course, but we can
certainly point to one obvious
culprit: the Internet!
Social organisations online have
become very popular in the last few
years, as hordes of women have
taken to platforms like Tumblr to
talk about body image and reject
our culture’s body shame. Body
positivity is trending and it’s pretty
awesome!
Relating this back to fashion, of
course, here’s a list of nine amazing
social media campaigns that are
changing the culture of fashion
from fatphobic to all-body-loving.
1. #Fatkini
Since 2012, the #Fatkini movement
has been going viral, featuring
women of size taking selfies in their
bathing suits. Where just a few years
ago it might have been considered
a rare occasion for a fat woman to
be wearing a bathing suit, it’s now
being celebrated all over Twitter
and Instagram.
The hashtag and movement was
started by GabiFresh, a fashion
blogger and body positivity
advocate. She began the hashtag
through a collaboration with xoJane,
ultimately asking readers to submit
photos of themselves wearing
bathing suits. Soon after, the
phrase went viral on social media.
In fact, she generated so much buzz
that she has now designed three
collections of fatkinis for Swimsuits
for All.
2. The Perfect Body
Last year, Victoria’s Secret (VS)
came out with a controversial
campaign for their lingerie, entitled
‘The Perfect Body’. The problematic
nature was down to the women
featured in the advertisements, who
were all thin – ultimately not doing
much as far as really encouraging
women to love their bodies. In
fact, thousands cried out asking
the company to issue an apology
and cease their campaign, and
thankfully, VS changed the title to
‘A Body For Every Body’.
But lingerie brands such as Curvy
Kate Lingerie and Dear Kate
decided to recreate the campaign
using women of all shapes and
sizes, representing real body
diversity and love. Yay for body
positivity!
3. #ImNoAngel
The hashtag and social media
campaign #ImNoAngel by Lane
Bryant is aiming to redefine what
society considers to be sexy by
