Favorable opinion about the Body

Positive Body image is Individuals' positive attitudes on their physical

characteristics that have been proven to be intimately linked to the health

promotion and maintenance as well as health and in happiness (Sharma &

Arya, 2021). In today’s culture, the societies view towards the body for women

is almost to being unrealistic. To be more specific, women’s body that mostly

the media portrays, focuses on thinness, beauty, physical fitness, and health

(Slaughter, 2019). However, a person with a positive body image understands

and accepts the reality and disregards societal ideology in order to appreciate

their entire physique.

As stated, Media is one of the biggest factors on influencing people’s

perceptions in their own body image. In our era where everything is

modernized, social media is one of the platforms that is extremely engaging

with people of all ages. In result, people spends time on this media especially

young teens unknowingly and slowly influences their perceptions to things

even on body image which can end in a positive or negative way. Although in

the past years, large-scale campaigns are promoting body positivity are being

held. A study by Cohen et al. (2019) showed a favourable attitude toward a

post that contains content about a healthy physique. As a result, when

compared to those who watch idealized and appearance-neutral posts, young

women's happiness and body image improves.

 The body positive movement has had a strong presence on Instagram

since 2012. Body positivity, which is a broader term than body image, is a

more recent concept that has only been developed and studied for the last ten

years (Halliwell, 2015). “Holding favorable opinions of the body, respecting the

body, feeling gratitude towards the body, rejecting societal ideals of

attractiveness, inner positivity influencing outer demeanor, and a broad

conceptualization of beauty” are some of the characteristics of body positivity

(Halliwell, 2015, p.177). Women with non-normative bodies use the platform

to challenge dominant ideals of feminine beauty, such as the pressure to have

flawless skin, stick to body size norms, and avoid bodily fluids. This has been

accompanied by a barrage of media outlets advising their readers on the best

body positive accounts to follow to boost their body confidence, as well as

how to be body positive on Instagram for more self-love (Irish Examiner,

2016; Burke 2015; Vino, 2015; O'Reilly, 2016). Women who use selfies to

open up about their experiences with eating disorders, shut down body

shamers, challenge "bikini body" myths, and confront expectations directed at

women's post-pregnancy bodies have been featured in the news and on

social media platforms. Through the use of body-positive hashtags, captions,

and subject matter, women who share the same experiences and frustrations

with dominant ideals of femininity have identified with and participated in this

movement. Other body positive members, on the other hand, have criticized

this growing movement, questioning its validity and the form it has taken.
References

Sharma, S., & Arya, M. BODY POSITIVITY: ROLE OF MEDIA EXPOSURE.

Slaughter, Natalie, "How can Storytelling Facilitate Body Positivity in Young

Women Struggling with their Bodies?: Literature Review" (2019).

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 119.

https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/119

Cohen R, Fardouly J, Newton-John T, Slater A.(2019). #BoPo on Instagram:

An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive

content on young women‘s mood and body

O'Reilly, L. (2016, May 26). 10 Instagram Accounts To Boost Your Body

Confidence. Cosmopolitan.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/theedge/a43442/10-instagram-

accounts-boost-body-confidence/.

Burke, L. (2015, December 27). How To Be Body Positive On Instagram For

More Self Love On Social Media. Bustle.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/124280-how-to-be-body-positive-on-

instagram-for-more-self-love-on-social-media.

Irish Examiner. (2016). 8 body positive Instagram accounts you need in your

life. Retrieved from http://www.irishexaminer.com/examviral/real-life/8-

body-positive-instagram-accounts-youneed-in-your-life-376206.html

Vino, L. (2015). 11 Body-positive Instagram accounts to follow right now.

Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/2206844/body-positive-

instagrams/ Halliwell, E. (2015). Future directions for positive body

image research. Body Image, 14, 177-189.