Abstract

Body-positive influencers on TikTok are utilising the platform’s video capabilities to challenge traditional body norms and promote self-love and acceptance among young Australian women. These influencers are leveraging the power of social media to create a safe and inclusive space for individuals to share their experiences and connect with like-minded individuals. Through their videos, body-positive influencers are encouraging their followers to embrace their bodies and reject societal standards of beauty that often leave to body dissatisfaction and negative self-image. These influencers, for example, Britney Saunders, use TikTok’s features such as filters, effects and music to create engaging and relatable content that resonates with their audience. The use of humour, relatable anecdote, and authentic storytelling is a common approach used by these influencers to dismantle harmful body stereotypes and normalize diverse body types. Therefore, the use of TikTok’s video capabilities by body-positive influencers is an effective way to combat unrealistic beauty standards and promote body positivity. Through their content, these influencers are inspiring their followers to embrace their uniqueness and to priories their mental and physical health over societal expectations.

 

Introduction

Since the 19^th century, the world has undergone a major societal transformation, caused by individuals’ constant search for belonging, identity and roots.  The 19^th century saw community sustained through solidarity, where everything was imaged as perfect and community was referred to as community as a utopia (Delanty, 2018). However, new ways of belonging have been presented through the introduction of new social structures and communicative ties. TikTok, more specifically, is an embodiment of an opportunity presented to the community by postmodernism. Users of the platform spend an average of 89 minutes on the app per day, the app is an all in one platform allowing to users to relate to everything and anything, no matter their geographical location (57 TikTok Stats to Know in 2023, 2023). TikTok is considered different to many other social platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, due to its specific trends, and these trends are ever-changing, ultimately keeping the platform’s users interested in creating fresh content. As well trends are more prevalent ton TikTok, the app is also considered more conducive to freedom and creative expression, where most times simplest content goes viral overnight (Why Is TikTok So Popular?, 2022).

 

The app homes one of the largest online communities, the body-positive community, as it allows its users to connect with like-minded individuals from anywhere in the world. The community is being pioneered by Generation Z (“Gen Z and Body Positivity,” 2022). Having grown up within the technological era, Generation Z, more specifically females within Gen Z,  has found themselves the pioneers of many movements, such as body positivity, due to their habitual social media use and the unique set of emotional voids these online communities fill for individuals. The body-positive community has provided a space to belong as many other users share similar social values, ultimately giving the members a sense of meaning. Therefore, the ever-growing body-positive community is driven by young Australian women and the sense of meaning the TikTok Community provides them with.

 

Body positivity has become a powerful movement amongst females, who have grown up in an era of social media and a constant barrage of images and messages that define the ideal female body. This generation of young women has been empowered to embrace their bodies and reject harmful beauty standards that have long been promoted in the media. Generation Z females are using social media, more specifically TikTok, to promote body positive and spread messages of self-love and acceptance. They have created online communities where they share their stories and experiences, and often show their support by encouraging influencers who stand for similar values to themselves. This has created a powerful network of individuals who are challenging the status quo and pushing for greater representation and acceptance of all body types. As mentioned, TikTok influencers, such as Australian influencer Brittney Saunders, have played a significant role in promoting body positivity among young Australian females. Brittney launched the Australian fashion brand, FAYT The Label in 2017 after she found a gap in the market for clothing designed for “bodies of all shapes and sizes” (High School Dropout to CEO, 2022). Brittney has amassed 360 000 followers on her personal TikTok, as well as 73 000 on her brand, Fayt the label’s, TikTok (FAYT (@fayt_the_label), n.d.), with her large online presence and trending videos helping to shift the conversation around body image, homing a page full of young females all supporting the idea of redefining beauty standards. However, despite the progress made by the body-positive movement and influencers like “Britt”, gen Z females still face challenges in promoting positive body image. One major challenge is the ongoing influence of traditional media, which often promotes narrow beauty standards and can perpetuate harmful messages about body image. Additionally, the pressure to conform to unrealistic beauty standards can lead to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, particularly for young women who are still developing their sense of self and identity. Moreover, body positivity is a critical issue for Generation Z females, who are using social media and other tools to challenge traditional beauty standards and promote self-acceptance. While progress has been made, there is still work to be done to create a more inclusive and equitable society where all bodies are accepted and celebrated. By continuing to promote positive messages of self-love and acceptance, generation Z females and influencers.

 

The body-positive community is a prime embodiment of how the shift towards communication communities is presenting new opportunities for young Australian females to belong without being restricted by symbolic boundaries. Globalisation in conjunction with the introduction of the internet and postmodernism caused a moral panic from many critics, such as Taylor Dotson (Madison, 2022). Taylor Dotson represents a nostalgia for a perfect community that never was, creating this romanticised idealisation of a community based around a geographical location. Although Dotson’s theory is relevant as the new modern age is an insecure one with much less stable social ties, he fails to acknowledge the conformity to similar beliefs and hierarchies that caused.  On the contrary new communities and social media platforms, such as TikTok have enables young females to find an identity online and companionship instead of being defined by traditional certainties such as gender, class and race. (Delanty, 2018). The McCrindle Research Pty Ltd published a report on “Understanding Generation Z” outlining the 5 defining traits of Generation Z. The report concluded that the key traits were digital, global, social, mobile and visual, expanding on the idea that the individuals fund importance in involvement, creativity, innovation and a global working atmosphere. Today’s youth are influenced by a network that is much larger both numerically and geographically, and given they are technology-based, the said network is connected 24/7.

 

Brittney Lee Saunders is a perfect example of a figure who has created a globally connected network beyond geographical location. In addition to her personal brand, Saunders has created an online community around body positivity through her clothing line, Fayt The Label. The brand focuses on creating comfortable and stylish clothing for all body types, with sizes ranging from XS to 6XL. Through Fayt The Label, Saunders has been able to further promote the message of body positivity and self-love among young Australian females on TikTok. Saunders frequently showcased her clothing line in her videos, featuring herself and other influencers modelling the clothes. By showcasing the clothes on different body types, she is promoting the idea that beauty and fashion should be inclusive and accessible to all. Her brand has become a symbol of body positivity, and many of her followers feel empowered and inspired when they wear her clothing. Fayt The Label’s marketing campaigns also feature diverse models, including women of different sizes, ethnicities, and abilities. This representation has been praised by many of Saunders young Australian followers, who feel that the brand’s message of body positivity is reflected in its advertising and promotional materials. By representing a wide range of body types and backgrounds, Fayt the Label has become a brand that is synonymous with inclusivity and acceptance. In addition to promoting her clothing line , Saunders also uses her platform to support other body-positive brands and influencers. She frequently collaborates with other brands and influencers who share her values and uses her platform to promote their messages and products. This has helped to create a larger community of body-positive influencers and brands, all working together to promote self-love and acceptance. Therefore, through her brand Fayt The Label, Brittney Lee Saunders has created an online community that demonstrated how the digital world has presented a place for belonging and a new found form of individualism for generation Z.  With technology such as TikTok, allowing information and videos to move feely, it facilitates a way in which people can maintain contact regardless of distance, assisting generation Z to escape the bonds if encapsulated social ties (Simmel, 1950). With this, generation Z has positioned itself as the pioneers of the movements towards networked individualism, which can be greater defined as the patterns of sociability facilitated by the internet and mobile technologies characterised by the portability and personalisation (Frizzo-Barker & Chow-White, 2012).

 

Community is far from gone. The introduction of technology and social media has provided the opportunity for new communities structured around as well as fragmentation. Social media platforms such as TikTok, are constantly introducing new AI features, allowing its users to connect easily and information spread freely. The app’s most predominant users, Generation Z, are the ones pioneering utilising the platform to address their emotional needs as well as the adaption of new AI features. The body-positive community have afforded Generation Z a place to connect, share and engage with others who share similar their similar values, providing them with a sense of meaning. With the help of TikTok influencers, like Brittney Lee Saunders, online communities are finding companionship online and overcoming historical spatial limited, encouraging the trend towards networked individualism. The future of the community is unknown, the way in which we maintain relationships and connect will forever be changing as technology changes.

 

References

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Delanty, G. (2018). Virtual Community: Beloning As Communication, In Community (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://read.kortext.com/reader/pdf/464510/Cover

FAYT (@fayt_the_label). (n.d.). TikTok. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.tiktok.com/@fayt_the_label?lang=en

Frizzo-Barker, J., & Chow-White, P. A. (2012). “There’s an App for That” Mediating mobile moms and connected careerists through smartphones and networked individualism. Feminist Media Studies, 12(4), 580–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2012.741876

Gen Z and Body Positivity: What Should Brands Know? (2022, May 26). Fanbytes. https://fanbytes.co.uk/gen-z-travel/

High school dropout to CEO: How Aussie’s ‘just for fun’ idea became a multi-million dollar empire. (2022, December 10). 7NEWS. https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/human-interest/high-school-dropout-to-ceo-how-aussie-brittney-saunders-just-for-fun-idea-became-a-multi-million-dollar-empire-c-9075677

Madison, M. (2022). Technically together: Reconstructing community in a networked world. The Social Science Journal, 59(1), 165–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1798143

Simmel, G. (1950). The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Simon and Schuster.

Why Is TikTok So Popular? 10 Reasons for Its Success – Mutesix. (2022, May 19). https://mutesix.com/why-is-tiktok-so-popular-10-reasons-for-its-success/