The Fall of the Body Positivity Movement
In 2016, body positivity was at the forefront of how so many brands marketed themselves. The size ranges were extended and plus sized individuals were featured much more often in advertising material. Many people saw themselves accurately represented in stores for the first time. Even if a lot of this was marketing and sometimes these brands wouldn’t carry plus sizes in store, it was still progress. Bigger bodies were “in” and needing to be skinny wasn’t as aggressively emphasized as it was in the 2000s.
But of course like all fashion trends we have seen a resurgence. This began with an attachment to 2000s style and low waisted jeans which also came with the unhealthy body types present in the era. We didn’t see this change in such a massive way until more recent years with the arrival of weightloss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Suddenly all of these celebrities so intent on showing love for their body started to thin out. An additional problem that lays with this is that these weightloss medications are ridiculously expensive and not accessible for the working class. Though we as consumers try to emulate what celebrities do, and skinniness quickly became a trend.
To follow suit, none of the brands were preaching body positivity. The brands that once told us to “love ourselves at any size” are slowly pulling away their support. For the majority of trendy brands, only very small models are used. Proving to us that our bodies only ever existed as a trend. Every body being beautiful was no longer preached, as so many brands realized they could no longer make money off it. The Victoria’s Secret fashion show ceased operation in 2019 because of the lack of popularity due to unrealistic body standards. Then in 2024 it came back as if nothing had even changed. The models were back in their underwear , as skinny as ever. The thing that once would’ve spread outrage was received with normalcy. Our bodies are simply props for capitalism.
In line with the “hive mind”, we can all be victims of the general public's opinions of bodies changing. We have started to switch our language a bit by using terms like “big-back” and just a general attitude towards fat-shaming. Hardly any brands still carry plus sizes in store and when they do they tend to be cut a bit more modestly. Multiple brands market themselves as being petite and only catering towards small people like Brandy Melville (which markets themselves as a teen brand). Their lack of size inclusivity isn’t hated on but rather just viewed as “the way it is”. Recently an activewear brand called “Super-Fit Hero” was platformed because they only carried sizes up to 7x. Many people decided saying that this brand isn’t actually inclusive because the brand doesn’t carry smalls. Then following the same argument used with Brandy Melvile, It’s not for you!
XOXO, The Fashion Stock Market
