I do not know about you, but I follow some influencers that focuses on body positivity. I love to follow them. they give me a sense of being okay with my own body. But some of the influencers their whole channel revolves around the body positivity movement. Its not a bad thing, but It made me think is body positivity an “fashionable persona” some influencers have?
The body positivity movement Let’s take a look at what the body positivity movement actually is. The social movement, body positivity, is to empower and embrace plus size women and men. Its about challenging the way society presents and views the body. But not only that, the movement is about equalizing and empowering all bodies regardless of size, gender, race, or appearance. People such as Lizzo and La’Shaunae Steward has been the front speakers of this movement Though out this movement influencers on different platforms has shown their body positivity and the encouragement to this movement. (Yeboah, 2020).
Influencer for the body positivity movement The influencers share their body positivity though their accounts in many ways, though appearances. Do you know any influencers that you follow, who share their confidence about their body? I follow a few, but some of them is Helen Anderson, Chessie King and Florence Given.
A fashion influencer that focuses on body positivity and shows it though her fashion is Dani DMC. Though out her Instagram account you see this positive and confident girl. She wears whatever she wants when she wants. In many of her post she addresses the issue about societies standards for women’s body. Though her Instagram she has made a confidence movement group on Facebook. She states that she has made this group so that she can pass on her confidence to others, and for people to have a safe space to talk and express them self about their bodies. From this we can read that Dani does a lot for her followers to show them the confidence a woman should have no matter her appearance.She is a speaker for the body positivity movement. Though this I will argue that the body positivity is Dani DMC´s fashionable persona.
Influencer for the body positivity movement The influencers share their body positivity though their accounts in many ways, though appearances. Do you know any influencers that you follow, who share their confidence about their body? I follow a few, but some of them is Helen Anderson, Chessie King and Florence Given. A fashion influencer that focuses on body positivity and shows it though her fashion is Dani DMC. Though out her Instagram account you see this positive and confident girl. She wears whatever she wants when she wants. In many of her post she addresses the issue about societies standards for women’s body. Though her Instagram she has made a confidence movement group on Facebook. She states that she has made this group so that she can pass on her confidence to others, and for people to have a safe space to talk and express them self about their bodies. From this we can read that Dani does a lot for her followers to show them the confidence a woman should have no matter her appearance. She is a speaker for the body positivity movement. Though this I will argue that the body positivity is Dani DMC´s fashionable persona.
What is fashionable persona The “fashionable persona” is the bloggers situated, narrative, and performative character, they have made for their social media. They write and takes pictures about fashion and their fashion choices. The bloggers are more personal with their audience then what is normally being seen online. The blogger with an “fashionable persona” has a strategic presentation of a character that is develop by the blogger’s self-identity, interest, knowledge, and presentation related to fashion and style. They show their tastes, feelings, bodies and everyday experiences in pictures, videos and texts with this they situate them self as a narrative and performative subject. Because of this bloggers has become the middleman between the fashion industry and the consumers of fashion and fashion media (Titton, 2015). I will argue that this “fashionable persona” can be also seen with influencers that uses social media such as Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok.
How is Body positivity Dani DMC´s “fashionable persona”? Dani DMC, is an influencer about fashion and body positivity, her main platforms are Instagram and YouTube. Though her “fashionable persona”, her body confidence becomes her identity that both the consumers and the fashion brands want. For the consumers it gives them the confidence to wear whatever they want, not matter what. And for the brands it gives them a new target audience that become more available through influencers, like Dani DMC, that has a fashionable persona as body positivity.
We experience her “fashionable persona” though her post and videos.
She talks about body positivity, but at the same time, she shows products though her pictures and texts. Dani takes pictures of herself in different fashion brands and show how any body can wear whatever they want, as long as they feel confident in it.
That is the red thread though fashion and body positivity go hand in hand together. Dani brings a new audience for some fashion brands to target. For example, in a post, Dani is wearing prettylittlething, a fashion brand that mostly uses smaller sized models to show case their brand. Though that post Dani states, with the picture, even if you are not a small size, this brand is still for you, because look at me, I’m wearing it and feeling pretty and confidence.
Conclusion But is that a bad thing? I would say no. I personally think that it is awesome to see people that have that confidence, that is brave enough to speak up for those who are not. But it can be miss used by brands to make more money, and the influencer. And that can become a problem if the influencer does not believe in the brands he or she is showing off to their followers. But for the individual person it is amazing to see body confident people, so they can learn form them to become more confidence them self. This helps the body positivity movement, that more and more people get influenced by people like Dani, get more people to question the social standards of the body. The “fashionable persona” is a positive and a negative thing related to what I just mentioned. The character that is develop by the influencer is a help to the follower (consumers), they get people they can be inspired by, learn from, and related to. They get a cohesive character they can follow and affected by. It creates a niche for the influencer on their social media, as seen with Dani DMC with body positivity. But the “fashionable persona” is a marketing strategi for both the influencer and the different brands. That is why brands works with influencers there has a the “fashionable persona” that ifs their brand the best. Again, this is not a bad thing, it is just something to have in mind the next time you see your favourite influencer post something about a brand. Do they do it because they really believe in it, like the body positivity movement? Or do they do it because of good marketing opportunities?
Bibliography
Titton, M. (2015). Fashionable Personae: Self-identity and Enactments of Fashion Narratives in Fashion Blogs. Fashion Theory 19, no. 2, s. 201-220.
Yeboah, S. (13. November 2020). Why the body positivity movement still has a long way to go. Hentet fra Vogue India: https://www.vogue.in/wellness/content/body-positivity-fat-acceptance-movement-still-has-a-long-way-to-go
Picture 1: DMC, D. (2020, November 12). DANI DMC Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQPP7kn6sk/
Picture 2: DMC, D. (2020, November 12). DANI DMC Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGapDJrnfb0/
Picture 3: DMC, D. (2020, November 12). DANI DMC Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGTPQ7In-fn/
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