A Brief History of Body Positivity

FUTURE OF BODY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BODY POSITIVITY

Although the body positivity movement seems like a recent development, its roots can be traced back to the fat acceptance movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, a movement started to battle antifat discrimination, break down systemic fat oppression and celebrate bigger bodies. Rooted in social justice, the movement was created for and by marginalized bigger bodies, especially those who were Black, queer and disabled. There were rallies to challenge and publicly denounce systemic fatphobia.1 Organizations such as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) were assembled. And inspired by feminist and queer activism, underground movements were introduced.2 A lot of conversation and insights were being put out by Black writers and activists explaining the connection between weight discrimination and racism. This era of fat activism was a truly spectacular pushback against size discrimination. As time passed, that momentum struggled to persist with the same vigor as the movement continued on and evolved into the body positive movement.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the rise of the diet industry and ‘skinny culture’. It was the age of intricate weight loss programs, pills and supplements, and models such as Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. The spark of fat acceptance that was ignited in the 60s, slowly started to get overshadowed by new standards and the countless ways to get there. In 1996, the term ‘body positive’ was coined.3

However, it wasn’t until the 2000s when the mainstream body positive movement, as it is known and understood today, emerged alongside the start of the social media storm. Many activists were writing content and posting photos on Facebook and Tumblr to showcase that one can be happy in a larger body and that all bodies deserve respect and equal opportunity. The movement was adopted into mass consumer culture. Brand involvement started to take center-stage and the narrative started to change from fat acceptance, into “all bodies are beautiful.” In the last few years, many influencers, celebrities and users have started blowing up on Instagram and Tiktok, speaking out about their body ‘flaws’ and the importance of loving ourselves as we are. More brands have started catering to bigger bodies and there is increased exposure of diverse bodies in the mainstream music and movie industry.

A lot has changed in the last 60 years when it comes to body positivity, but have we answered all of the key systemic issues that activists of the 1960s were rallying about? As a society, have we really started to embrace different types of bodies yet?