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Ashlee Pitigliano
Apitigliano7569@smail.pcd.edu/253.820.4983
BUS 135
Taryn Givenchy
Due November 1st 2015
BODY SHAMING IN SOCIAL MEDIA
The world of social media has opened doors for people world wide to connect,
network, and build and maintain relationships. It is a tool used by businesses to promote
products and bring in customers. Platforms such as Facebook and MySpace help
connect families and rekindle long lost relationships; however many users have been
victims of the latest trend of social media, body shaming.
Although social media has many advantageous aspects, this uncensored world
of constant communication brings with it a dark side. With nearly two-thirds of
Americans regularly using social media sites (Perrin, 2015), it is impossible to ignore the
outreach that both positive and negative social media trends have. Body shaming has
become a social norm on Facebook, and its repercussions are on target to become
catastrophic; however a movement is emerging to fight body shaming and it is quickly
picking up speed. These include public campaigns on feminist websites like
HelloGiggles.com and blogs created by positive body activists such as Tess Holliday
and Miranda Mendoza. Mendoza was quoted saying, “Your body... does not dictate the
amount of happiness, success, or love you deserve (Moss, 2015)". It appears that the
most effective form of campaigning on social media is the use of body positive
hashtags; a type of label or metadata tag used on social network and microblogging

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services which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or
content (“Hashtag”, 2008).
It is unclear how or when body shaming first emerged, but fat- and body-shaming
can be traced back to mid-19th century England, when the first modern dieting book was
published (Herman, 2015). It all started with a small booklet entitled Letter on
Corpulence Addressed to the Public, not written by a dietician or a doctor, but by an
undertaker named William Banting (Groves, 2002). Fast forward to the 21st century, and
still today many companies have chosen to make others bodies their business. They
have taken advantage of this trend in social media to promote their own business. This
is not a new technique, as business marketers have used body shaming for ages
(Antoinades, 2013). Companies such as GrapeNuts, Bypost, Lucky Strikes, Palmolive,
Bacardi, Ralph Lauren, and even PETA have launched ads and campaigns attacking
body images over the years, only recently getting any backlash from it (Antoinades,
2013). Most notably was an instance in 2013 when the popular clothing brand
Abercrombie and Fitch took a huge hit after comments from CEO Mike Jeffries caused
a public outcry. In an interview with Salon, Jeffries was quoted saying, “In every school
there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly,
we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude
and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong.
Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to
target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t
alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either (Denziet-Lewis, 2006)”. He later
posted a rebuttel, saying the company is “completely opposed to any discrimination,

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bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior (Denziet-Lewis,
2006)” but not in time to save the company from a massive drop in sales.
Abercrombie is not alone in their attempts to body shame the public. Following a
Ralph Lauren campaign featuring an image of an already thin model photoshopped to
be skeleton skinny, many people were outraged. An article by DailyMail.com states,
“Filippa Hamilton’s size 8 frame underwent such a transformation in the poster for its
Blue Label jeans that her head actually seems wider than her waist” (Service, 2009).
Ralph Lauren later issued a public apology, stating, “For over 42 years, we have built a
brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we
are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted
image of a woman’s body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take
every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand
appropriately” (Arrowood, 2012). While the public apology was considered a good start,
many feminist groups felt that it was not enough. In an opinion piece published by The
Los Angeles Times, author Karin Klein says, “the National Organization for Women is
demanding a further apology, to women everywhere for the company's alleged
obsession with portraying extreme thinness, and preferably also to Filippa Hamilton, the
model in the ad who was fired by Ralph Lauren after years of being one of its top
models” (Klein, 2009).
Despite these blatant attempts to make consumers question their body type or
social status, one social media trend appears to be saving the day. Hashtags have
become a popular way for the social media-savvy to come together and advocate for
body inclusion. Using photos of themselves to spread messages of radical body

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positivity, these users have created online communities that are helping to start a major
self-love dialogue (Dupere, 2015). Because the body shaming movement has gotten so
much attention lately, many have taken a stand against it. Hashtags have popped up all
over twitter promoting positive body images. Some examples are
#EffYourBeautyStandards, #HonorMyCurves, and #GetYourBellyOut (Dupere, 2015).
The hashtag #EffYourBeautyStandards was started by body positive advocate
and plus-sized model Tess Holliday in an effort to build communities and break down
barriers. Holliday said, “I know other women relate to where I’ve been and the feelings
of not quite being good enough. I hope through all of this that they realize they are good
enough and beautiful no matter what size color or shape they are (Duan, 2006)”. Since
its inception, the hashtag has been used upwards of 687,000 times and is gaining
popularity every day (Dalessandro, 2015).
Similarly, the hashtag #HonorMyCurves was created by a woman named
Honorine, who created an Instagram account named HonorCurves as a play on her
name and her acceptance of her own body. She hoped that by documenting her own
journey she will inspire others to love themselves just the way they are (Dalessandro,
2015). In an interview with JuiceBecause, Honor said, “HonorCurves was borne out of a
drive to set myself free from the false beliefs I had been carrying about myself. I started
this account to share my experiences: with fashion, with health (both mental and
physical), and with my plan to discover true self-appreciation and love” (Boyd, 2015).
An example of a less conventional outlet of body positive hashtags is
#GetYourBellyOut, encouraging body positivity to those who are battling with Crohn’s
disease. The purpose behind the hashtag, started by Lorna Haymes, Victoria Marie,

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Sahara Fleetwood, and Gem Willingham (Skye, 29015) is “To de-stigmatize the use of
colostomy bags often used to treat Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis,
#GetYourBellyOut encourages social media users to show off their bags as a sign of
strength and pride (Dupere, 2015).”
These examples just go to show that Internet marketing, while highly effective,
must be used in a smart way. If used in a way that attacks certain groups, the backlash
can be catastrophic like it was for Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie and Fitch. Companies
must learn to walk the fine line between marketing to specific groups and alienating
specific groups. There is a difference between targeting a certain group of people and
making a group of people feel unworthy or think less of themselves. The previously
stated examples, among many similar blogs and articles, show how badly a marketing
tactic gone wrong can hurt a company. When the public bands together, a company can
be brought down in a matter of minutes thanks to the power of social media.