Why Does “Body Positivity” Equate To Showing Your Naked Body To The World?

Earlier this year, Lizzo, who the DailyMail deemed the “queen of body positivity,” posted photos on Instagram in a barely-there bikini with nearly every angle of her objectively obese body on display. This is only one of many publicity stunts that “body positive” female celebrities (and, as a result, their followers) engage in to affirm their personal value and reduce any stigma around body types that span beyond the “sample size.” 

"The discourse around bodies is officially tired!” Lizzo said, later going on to say that social media users scrutinizing her photos in the comment section were “f***ing wasting” time “on the wrong thing.” 

Like a fisherman readying his fishing pole with bait, women in the “body positivity” movement are baiting trolls and everyday onlookers alike with purposefully incendiary content, and as a result, they are decreasing their own intrinsic value. Here’s how we’ve found ourselves deeply obsessed with artificial body positivity culture and are fostering a generation of slaves to the simulation. 

Let’s Explore the “Body Positivity” Basics

When you scroll through Instagram’s “body positivity” keyword, finding a fully-clothed individual (yes, men are guilty too) is just as likely as finding a needle in a haystack. If I’m cherry-picking, feel free to call me out, but more often than not, it appears that “body positive” content exclusively features women excessively baring their skin.

Sometimes, these posts come from extremely slender, modelesque women who look like Bella Hadid or Kendall Jenner clones. Jenner once proudly stated, “I just love my tits being out” in reference to how empowered she feels when modeling with her nipples showing. Similarly, her sister Kim Kardashian once said she feels empowered by her body and sexuality. 

Even Demi Lovato, who has publicly struggled with body image previously, said that her “nude” photoshoot felt empowering. The body positivity movement is clearly not just overweight or obese women insisting that we should look at the semi-nude photos they post and applaud in celebration. No, there is a serious (but likely uncoordinated) effort for nudity to be a prerequisite for a woman to feel “body positive” – and it needs to stop.

Called “radical fat activism” by some critics and defined as a method to “normalize all body types” by supporters, the body positivity movement has become a lucrative venture for lifestyle brands to turn a profit on. In fact, even the most radical activists – who bemoan the “remarkable absence of BIPOC, 2S LGBTQAI+, fat/thick/thicc/curvy, older, gender-nonconforming, and/or disabled representations” within the movement will admit that it has become “commodified and packaged into a product or service for consumption.”

Like with fourth-wave feminists, who outwardly disavow when women take on more traditional gender roles, body positivity activists want inclusivity up until the point that we include societal norm.

Aside from Lizzo, who sparks very heated discourse online clothed or in more risqué garb, plenty of other female celebrities show off their skin in an effort to affirm the worth of their physical body. Singer Bebe Rexha was given Lizzo’s royal title of “the body positive queen” by Grazia after she danced on TikTok in a sultry blue lingerie set. 

The video, captioned “Feeling like a bad bitch today,” included on-screen text such as “How much do you think I weigh?”, “No one’s business,” and “Cause I’m a bad bitch no matter what my weight. But let’s normalize 165 lbs.”

Grazia goes on to explain that Rexha’s revealing video is a “proverbial middle finger to the vile standards of body image projected onto women via social media,” and they emphasize how Rexha often uses social media to “clap back” at critics. They conclude with a direct quote from Rexha about how she wants to inspire women to love their bodies and feel beautiful at any size. But do all women draw inspiration from TikTok strip teases?

Comparison Is the Thief of Happiness, according to Science

When we view “body positive” content on Instagram – content that is intentionally or unintentionally sexualized – we’re meant to celebrate our differences and not use those images as points of negative or positive comparison. That said, a recent study actually indicates that viewing “body positivity” content online increases a woman’s bodily dissatisfaction and makes her more self-surveillant of her body image. 

The study suggests that, despite the movement having some good intentions, it’s actually achieving the exact opposite result: increased self-objectification. “This result seems quite relevant, given the paradox that images aimed to promote acceptance of their own body can end up triggering the desire to change it,” said the researchers.

What’s more, in some cases, this may even mean that more women are going under the knife for cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures after they’ve continuously soaked in content from role models online who have altered their own appearances, but the authors admit that more research must be done on this connection.

This may be a simple case of reverse causation, where X (the act of viewing body positivity photos online) and Y (having high levels of body dissatisfaction) are associated, but not in the way we’d expect. Instead of body positivity content causing people to feel worse about themselves, what could be happening is that people who already have negative self-image are more likely to seek out content that affirms they should feel “positive” about perceived body flaws.

Try as the media might, they don’t have as much influence over what is commonly considered attractive. Sure, magazines can place affirming, body positive remarks on top of unattractive photos, but that text can’t change our minds. I mean, isn’t it somewhat insulting to prop people up with lies just to make them feel better?

When publications, companies, celebrities, and influencers alike parrot the “everyone is beautiful” narrative, it doesn’t feel authentic, it feels patronizing. Perhaps some of them have good intentions, but instead of reducing negative body image, they inadvertently emphasize your appearance as being one of your most important traits.

Nudity Isn’t Always Sexual in Nature

Nudity or even just demure content that shows off some skin isn’t always intended to be sexually provocative. We know through countless works of art throughout history that this just isn’t the case. Female nudity in art has been celebrated through iconic works like Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Jean Fouquet’s Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, or Titian's Venus of Urbino.