What Happened To The Body Positivity Movement?
This post is a little spicy.
Trigger Warning: This touches on body image and weight loss.
I am a mid-size/ plus-size girl, and I’ve been wondering what’s happening to all of us. I recently was out with a fellow mid-sized friend, and we had a long and interesting conversation about what’s happening to our community.
There were so many creators and celebrities that we looked up to, who created their entire brand on being a plus-size or mid-size person, and suddenly they’re straight-sized. I am not here to judge their choices on wanting to be smaller; I’m here to talk about why I’ve unfollowed or muted so many of them.
It’s not why you think.
As the country becomes more conservative, it is incredibly disheartening to see so many larger-bodied creatives go from having fun and whimsical personal styles to suddenly trying only to wear “basic” or “clean girl” items now that they are thin.
I’m here to express my frustration that so many of these creators had a focus on size inclusivity, and now that they’re thin, they’ve stopped speaking about or calling out brands for their lack of inclusivity. Once they’re thin, they do not seem to care about the community they built on inclusivity. I’ve noticed a lack of posts from these creators about anything related to size inclusivity or promoting brands that are actually size-inclusive, and it hurts.
Since they’ve gotten thin, many of them no longer encourage followers to shop brands that go above a large size, which alienates a huge part of their community, including me!
As frustrated as I am about these creators, there are some incredible creators who continue to fight and talk about loving themselves at any size, and those are the ones who get my attention and engagement. So, thank you for being you! You’re really the MVP!
In regards to the content these newly straight-sized creators are sharing, I understand wanting to create videos about weight loss and what they did to achieve it, but the reality is that I’m not on their pages for that. I’m on their pages looking for fashion inspiration; I’m not there to get weight loss tips. If I were looking for weight loss help, like tips and tricks, I’m looking for a professional, not a random influencer who has decided to make her entire personality about thinness. I’m there because of their personal style, which, of course, is now a lot more boring, despite being able to wear/access more.
As someone who is solidly 14/16 at this point in my life, seeing all these weight-loss journeys is making me love myself a lot less, which has caused me to unfollow or mute many creators I once loved. It is hard to see them talk about how they felt confident in their plus-size/ mid-size bodies, to changing the narrative to be like, “Actually, I hated myself then, but now that I’m thin, I ~actually~ love myself.”
This is not just a theme online; it’s something we are seeing offline.
I wanted to note that the lack of plus-size models during NYFW did not go unnoticed by many in the fashion industry. Replacing plus-size people with older people is also frustrating. There should be room on the runway for people of every size, shape, and age, including people with disabilities. However, this is another conversation for another time.
Many brands are pulling back their sizing in stores as well, and it’s heartbreaking to watch in real time.
I don't really have a conclusion for this post; I just wanted to rant about how I’ve been feeling about the world, fashion, and fashion content creators.
Back to your regularly scheduled Beccaland next week!