Fatphobia in Social Media
Since the invention of the internet our experiences and interactions are no longer just face to face and navigating through social media has become part of our lives. But the societal norms that have been established in the real world flow into the virtual one. Due to sites like Instagram and Facebook we have been subjected to seeing people in photos much more than previous generations. Living in a society where certain bodies are deemed more attractive, those get more attention in the virtual world and thus we see more of those idealized bodies than we would in the real world. This has the consequence of enforcing even more those idealized norms and increasing body dissatisfaction among everyone who does not fit in.
One aspect society deems important to be “beautiful” is to be thin. Fatphobia manifests in social media by erasing fat bodies and making thinness the only acceptable way of being attractive. Companies do not give much information about how their algorithms work, it is however speculated that algorithms filter out content from overweight creators and fatphobic attitudes get recommended more. Additionally, social media is very individualistic. The focus on websites that promote weight loss is usually on what individuals can do to become thinner. This creates the narrative that every individual is fully responsible for their weight and causes people to see obesity as a choice and sign of laziness.
Effects of thin ideal internalization
A lot of pictures we come across on social media can be described as thinspiration or fitspiration content, both aimed at encouraging people to reduce bodyfat, however fitspiration promotes not just thinness, but also exercise and an athletic body type. Boepple and Thompson (2016) showed that both types of content contain messages that stigmatize fat bodies and that fitspiration content does not do what it claims. People exposed to the content did not have an increase in exercise. Exposure to both thin- and fitspiration sites is mainly associated with body dissatisfaction, decrease self-esteem and negative mood.
A study from Cohen et al. (2017) showed that appearance-based use of Instagram and Facebook leads to more thin-ideal internalization and body surveillance. That means that people internalize that being thin is the only way to be healthy and beautiful and stigmatize overweight bodies. Negativity is not only projected onto others, but to oneself. Constant body surveillance leads to increased dissatisfaction. Thin idealization and subsequently fatphobia is a negative spiral, harmful to oneself and others.
Body Positivity
Coming from fat acceptance movements in feminist circles from the 1960s, the movement has found a new medium to fight against weight-based discrimination. A lot of accounts on Instagram are devoted to sharing body positivity. But what exactly is meant by that? The movement focuses on challenging traditional beauty norms and making people feel good about their bodies, regardless of their size. It encourages taking care of your body in a nonjudgmental way.
The Body Positivity Movement has been shown to effectively counter the negative impact of the thin- and fitspiration culture on the internet. It is associated with psychological well-being, better eating habits, higher body satisfaction, more exercise, and increased self-esteem. If you are interested in checking out a body positivity account on Instagram, @meganjaycrabbe is a good choice. For those interested in reading research, there is a section on our website with all the sources.
Someone being classified by the BMI as overweight can be perfectly healthy. Still, fatphobia often is justified by the argument that being overweight is unhealthy. First, there is no justification for discriminating against anyone. Secondly, as research shows, the people that claim to be worried about other’s health and display fatphobic behavior are in fact making people unhealthier and unhappier. Social media has done a lot of damage, but it can also be used as a powerful tool for helping people, as the body positivity movement shows. The best way to go about this is by promoting healthy behaviors on both a physical and mental level. Encouraging healthy habits does not need to come at the cost of emotional well-being. After all, a society with happy people is a society with healthy people.
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