The Erasure of Body Positivity on Social Media Via White Influencers

The Body Positivity (or BOPO) movement is a social movement created by Black women to celebrate and center marginalized bodies not typically accepted by conventional beauty standards. It was intended to be an accepting and welcoming space for fat, disabled, transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming and otherwise marginalized bodies first and foremost, and as a way to provide representation for a group that is typically erased from dominant social norms through more collective visibility. The movement also provides empowerment by promoting liberation from the tight constraints of social expectations on how bodies should look to appear desirable and worthy. Its original inception dates back to the sixties, but in modern days the movement relies heavily on social media platforms and online exposure to reach its community.

The original message became co-opted and misconstrued as white fitness influencers on social media warped the concept of body positivity to suit their own interpretations of the movement. A quick search of various versions of the BOPO hashtags on Instagram will offer many similar looking posts of white women with socially acceptable bodies posing in mirrors, contorting their bodies to force “flaws.” This is usually shared in conjunction with a rather cliche caption on how important it is to love oneself regardless of these outward “flaws.” They might show one photo posed in flattering light and looking their best with a tight stomach and curvy hips, next to another where they are hunched over to produce the look of stomach rolls, or show their legs in a different light to highlight their cellulite. They also typically write something along the lines of, “wasn’t going to share this but I’m feeling brave. I, too, have cellulite, bloat and rolls, so I am no different than you. We should all love ourselves despite these things!” This type of sentiment coupled with an image highlighting their forced flaws is all in an effort to appear both relatable and likable, and gain praise from their followers for being real and authentic.

Yet there is nothing brave about a white woman in a socially acceptable body posing in ways to exaggerate her so-called flaws. These kinds of posts are actually extremely beneficial to their profiles because they garner sympathy, relatability, and likely result in a boost of followers, which helps them reach more faces to promote their products to and thus grow their incomes. The women sharing these kinds of posts are not opening themselves up to any real criticism by posting these images and messages (because their bodies and their whiteness are already socially acceptable to begin with), merely praise for appearing to be relatable to their audiences—and all while never having to experience life in a body that is actually marginalized or oppressed. They are also missing the entire meaning behind the Body Positivity movement by centering their bodies, regardless whether it is in a positive light or not, which continues to make the focus on physical image—a concept that the BOPO movement actively advocates against doing.

An even more troubling issue with these types of posts flooding social media is that they are distorting the original message and its intended audience, hindering the movement’s ability to reach those who need to hear it most. The BOPO movement is not a place for everyone in all bodies to find self love — it is specifically for racially oppressed, fat and marginalized bodies to find a home of acceptance, positivity, liberation and representation. Visibility is an incredibly powerful tool for delivering pertinent information to a large population of people, and the message becomes dangerously diluted on an otherwise valuable social media platform when white women fail to educate themselves on the original intentions behind the movement.

Everyone in all bodies is most certainly encouraged to celebrate themselves and practice unconditional body acceptance. These are important concepts for us all to adopt and actively practice as much as possible. Just the same, everyone’s own personal insecurities with their bodies, regardless of their size, are valid and important. There is absolutely nothing wrong with spreading the idea of self love and body acceptance, nor should there be any dismissal around insecurities any woman has of herself and her body, regardless of her size. However, it is crucial to understand the distinction between the universal concept of self love and the Body Positivity movement. Those who share these kinds of posts under the guise of Body Positivity are overtaking a movement for their own personal social media gains and are completely missing the message, all while making it difficult for others who need it most to reach the right community.

This social dilemma demonstrates that any narrative can become centered around whiteness, which is highly problematic when people of color are both oppressed through every facet of society and are actively erased from conversations surrounding any and all social norms. Because of white privilege, white people are very accustomed to having undeniable access to anything that might interest them and often do not consider the impacts of their actions on minority populations. The omnipresent system of white supremacy always finds ways to intervene in virtually all social movements to both strengthen its values and preserve the status quo, making it extremely important to respect the boundaries people of color create for themselves to uphold empowerment and liberation of their communities. There can be no acceptance of centering whiteness in spaces not intended for white people when the entire constructs of society already actively focus on centering whiteness and excluding, devaluing and dehumanizing faces of color daily.

There is room for white influencers to speak about the Body Positivity movement in a constructive and meaningful way that does not take attention away from its intended audience. Their platforms are incredibly useful tools for reaching a wide range of people and with that comes an inherent moral responsibility to share important information, not just self-serving posts. Instead of using the concept to promote themselves and garner praise for their already socially desired bodies, they can speak on the importance of the Body Positivity movement to their audiences—who likely encompass a diverse array of races and body types—and share relevant facts, resources and information to their viewers. Instead of focusing their entire feeds on their own self advancement, they can use an occasional post to recognize and honor the power that social media has in sharing collective thought. Posting information with accuracy and separating personal thoughts from collective movements is key, and there is ample room for both to thrive in the world of social media.

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