Body positivity has been commercialised and sanitised and is less inclusive as a result
As the body positivity movement grew in popularity and gained media attention, it has been co-opted for profit, diluting the message. Body positive visibility today does not reflect society, with some groups excluded or neglected.
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The Argument
The growth of the body positivity movement has partly undermined it. As it gained publicity and became commercialised, its message was diluted and its radical element ignored. As a result, body positivity today focuses on cisgender white women of a particular shape. [1]
When brands entered the body positivity picture, the problem got worse. When social movements get co-opted by profit-driven businesses, the original intentions get warped and re-packaged into something acceptable and uncontroversial, and which does not challenge the status quo.[2]
This has led to the absence of bodies of a particular size, colour, sexual orientation and gender identity from mainstream body positivity campaigns.
Men are also often left out of the body positivity movement despite also facing pressures to have a particular physique and suffering from shaming and mental health issues - it is important that ‘imperfect’ male bodies are celebrated.[3]
Counter arguments
The body positivity movement continues and still has much to achieve. Large scale social change is never a smooth process, but the general direction of travel in this case is positive. That there is still work to be done does not mean the body positivity movement has failed.