In recent years, a vast movement has emerged to rehabilitate women's bodies with all the differences they can show and thus break the injunction to perfection. History and decoding of a more "clean" societal movement and a more inclusive beauty.
Body Positive: Stop the illusion of perfection!
It all started with scandals related to the health problems of many young girls who starved themselves to look like the models in magazines... without realizing that the photos were retouched. In a spirit of transparency, many initiatives were taken to show the reality of these photos that were too perfect to be true. Some models and celebrities published before/after retouching photos in order to stop this myth of perfection on glossy paper. Courageous, they were quickly praised. And soon followed by certain brands displaying advertisements "guaranteed without retouching" and magazines with "unretouched" photos of stars on the cover. Given the success of these initiatives, certain brands felt the wind change. They spotted an advertising argument to play on proximity with their customers under the pretext of representing them all, in their diversity. We then saw the emergence of campaigns advocating inclusion and displaying skewers of women of all sizes, all colors and all builds. At the same time, this social trend has forced fashion show and magazine casting directors to resort to a greater diversity of muses. It was about time!
From inclusive beauty to positive beauty
For years, activists, associations and the public from underrepresented populations have been demanding more visibility in the media to be more in line with real society. Beyond having offered more visibility to minorities, the movement has allowed other groups of discriminated women to display their differences, which were previously considered as flaws or imperfections. Even if the cult of perfection was weakening, it was nevertheless necessary to display these physical details that were (and still are) hidden. The battle quickly began on social networks, first with the "+ size" influencers committed to fighting fatphobia, then by many anonymous people thus normalizing their round bodies, their cellulite and their love handles. The movement has spread to all "differences": acne, stretch marks, scars, burns, spots. And today, inclusive beauty and the Body Positive movement belong to a broader movement that no longer simply displays these differences but highlights them. It's the #bodyglory movement which consists of being proud of one's "flaws", and even claiming them.
Cellulite, swollen belly, saddlebags and love handles: you're normal!
From Dove, a few years ago, which made inclusion the key element of its brand image, to We are Jolies panties and swimsuits that display all body types in underwear, the "Body Positive" shift has made it possible to develop more caring products, often ethical, supportive and sustainable . If some brands are trying to recover this phenomenon for marketing purposes, it is on social networks that we find the most committed ambassadors!
@lottiedrynan dedicates her Instagram account to desacralizing the flat stomach by posting photos of herself when she is bloated and hammering home "Since from one hour to the next my stomach can go from flat to swollen, it is proof that my body does not define my value". She gives tips for feeling good despite a bloated stomach and shows off her love handles as much as her belly.
For her part, @celestebarber makes fun of the clichés of influencers, actresses and other slender celebrities who post sophisticated glamour photos by imitating them with her own body and what she has on hand. A process that ridicules glamour posts and those who are behind them. An excellent therapy to put things back in their place.
@danaemercer , an American woman has fun posting two photos of herself taken at the same time side by side: one super sexy, and the other 100% natural. She thus denounces this lie that displays on social networks shots of supposedly perfect bodies obtained thanks to advantageous poses and angles.
Body Neutral versus Body Shaming
An evolution of the Body Positive movement is the term "Body Neutral" which means that physical appearance should not matter, neither to do, nor to obtain, nor to allow oneself things, and even less to be taken into account to gain one's self-esteem. Body Neutrality is a response to the Body Shaming that women undergo, that is to say both a pressure to be thin, beautiful and in shape and the guilt of not being so.
The Instagram account @confidentcollective offers a podcast and publishes posts to gain self-confidence and give a new image of women, in all their diversity. The #bodyneutral trend teaches kindness towards oneself , regardless of appearance, and advocates self-love in a global way through gratitude, healthy living and eating, and positive consideration towards one's body so that it is no longer a limiting factor.
In this perspective, we can want to lose weight for example, or to beautify ourselves, but not to correspond to social criteria, or to please others, not to conform to injunctions, but just to feel good and no longer see our body as an enemy, but as an ally. This is the mantra of the Frenchwoman @ shera who shows herself naturally with all the details of her irregular skin down to those of her hair through the particularities of her body. The same goes for @ mikzazon who campaigns to "normalize normal bodies" (#normalienormalbodies) and who poses in a swimsuit without complex, and shows her skin without makeup of which she claims the visible pores, the redness and the spots.
Body Positive and Fatphobia
Body shaming is particularly common among strong women.
In France, blogger Stéphanie Zwicky was a pioneer in the art of dressing plus sizes. She helped many women to assert themselves through fashion and to succeed in dressing by campaigning for more and better-cut models for plus sizes.
The young woman Coucou les girls began to parody beauty influencers with ironic videos and then addressed self-esteem and body acceptance. She then chose to show her body in many photos to help other strong women love and accept themselves despite the ever-scrutinizing gaze of society.
This approach is that of many accounts like @ pausitiveworld or @ mybetterself which aims at the same time for everyone to (re)take power, sometimes through a feminist approach, or inclusive in particular in her podcast (Inpowerpodcast). The famous @ gaelleprudencio , author of "fiere d'être moi-même" (ed.Leduc), has become one of the emblematic figures of the Body Positive movement in France and shows off her size +++ while making fun of the judgment of others. Finally, the big girl with a big style, @ grosse_avec_frange , has an account dedicated to fashion +++size which shows that you can have a very assertive style whatever your waist, hip or chest size.
Moms and their stretch marks
Amidst all this diversity of bodies, there is an offshoot of the Body Positive movement dedicated to moms and their post-pregnancy bodies. These accounts mainly target stretch marks, but also sagging skin, seen as reminders of the most beautiful thing their bodies have done: carrying life. Some of these accounts also post photos of anonymous moms to encourage them to thrive and appreciate the changes in their bodies and not be ashamed of them!
One of the leaders of this trend: @thebirdspapaya aka Sarah who shows off her mom and mom-to-be body with her stretch marks and flabby skin. For her part, @ely_killeuse , the French influencer who describes herself as "a young, uninhibited bodypositive mom", has long been yo-yoing to fight against her body. Author of "Bodypositive Attitude" at Marabout, she now focuses on showing "the real life" of a mom and providing solutions to practical problems.
Skin Positivity: the body positivity of acne and spots
Acne has long been a huge complex for many women and girls whose only pride was knowing how to hide this problem by putting on makeup like a pro. Today, tired of being ashamed of it, some have chosen to show their skin in all its irregularity of color and relief.
@mariia_white , who suffers from severe acne, shows her skin in crisis or with light makeup, to promote #normalskin on social media. @theblemishqueen (the queen of the pimple, in French) embraces her skin with or without makeup, in order to normalize skin problems.
@myfacestory claims #acneneutrality and advocates her acne scars to help other sufferers live.
Finally, @alexandra_breeze shows on her unfiltered account her very severe acne, with bumps and very strong redness and does not hesitate to post a photo of a burst pimple or scabs.
Body Positive and Diseases
The Body Positive movement also helps combat isolation due to the physical consequences of certain illnesses. It is then a question of mutual aid and "good vibes" to show women that they are not the only ones to experience these problems. In this movement towards the acceptance of all physiques whatever they may be, women suffering from or surviving cancer have found a space where they can be bald without any shame. This is the case of the account @ hellopecia or @ paulinealopecia , a young woman suffering from allopecia at 19 years old who shows herself with or without a wig.
Other illnesses, eating disorders including anorexia come out of the shadows: @ iskra aka Iskra Lawrence, ambassador of the national association of eating disorders, gathers some 4.6 million followers. Former anorexic, the famous @ meganjaynecrabbe , aka Body Posi Panda, a curvy girl with purple hair (at the time of writing) decided to enter the Body Positive community, to learn to love herself and to destroy stereotypes to help other girls in her case. Finally, many accounts are also dedicated to angiomas, port wine stains or vitiligo.
The account @ vitiligo.beauty relays photos of people with vitiligo to showcase their beauty and diversity, and the account of the famous vitiligo-stricken @winnieharlow showcases the famous top model. We also find accounts of people with albinism on Instagram, or bearded women like the sensual@harnaamkaur who claims #mybodymyrules (my body, my rules).
From Body Neutral to normal skin, Body Positivism and its variations are a liberating and joyful social movement that marks the evolution of the way we look at others and their differences. From this point of view, social networks appear as a small revolution that allows people to connect who until now believed themselves to be alone and suffered in silence from their complexes. It is up to society to evolve in light of these examples of acceptance and appreciation of differences so that future generations can be more open to others and freed from the injunctions to beauty standards from another age.
Body positivity in 5 Instagram accounts
@twelvefevrier , a badly burned person who decided to show herself as she is with her burn scars to help all those who have suffered this kind of trauma to stop hiding.
@lafillequiadestaches , round and carrying angiomas (red spots) all over her body, this leader of body positive influencers on Instagram is a fierce self-love activist.
@worldof_riah , a busty American dancer with vitiligo. Her beauty and zest for life make her spots disappear
@onveutduvrai , a French account that uses social networks to make women feel good by sharing photos with those who have the same complexes as them.
@jenbricker , a woman with both legs amputated who places her bust in every possible place, with her partner, to show that her disability is not an obstacle to a "normal" life.
