The Body Positivity Movement and the Latinas Supporting It

The Body Positive or body positivity is a movement that claims the acceptance of all bodies and rejects imposed stereotypes of supposed perfection, which make many people feel bad about their physical appearance. Its main objective is that no one has a negative image of their body and, also, improve self-perception and physical and mental health.

This ongoing movement, which is backed up by many celebrities such as Selena Gómez, Rihanna or Lady Gaga, precisely seeks to eliminate an idealized, demanding beauty standard that doesn’t represent the vast majority of people. It tries to visibilize what has been pushed aside or covered up for a long time, especially throughout the postmodern era.   

With its intention of promoting self-esteem and self-love through acceptance, body positivity proposes that people be responsible for their own health and focus on what each person considers as well-being and beauty.

In this sense, it’s interesting to see how the fashion industry plays a fundamental role in this. Usually it’s white, slim, young and feminine models that we see on the runways of fashion weeks. Even standard sized garments are usually between sizes 0 and 4 in the United States, which is not representative of the average body type. When research and statistics began to emerge showing how people were negatively affected by this issue, consumers and experts began demanding change.

To give some examples with specific data from these analyses, currently 80% of women in the US don’t like how they look and 70% of normal weight women want to be thinner. Body image is a big issue in many societies, and people who think negatively about their bodies are more at risk of depression, social anxiety and eating disorders.

Although there have been changes in the fashion industry, and precisely it was the body positivity movement that has contributed positively, most companies and clothing brands still market their products using a certain type of model, telling people who don’t have that same certain body type that they’re not good enough. 

Selena Gómez and Salma Hayek, two Body Positive Latina Advocates

However, there are more and more famous people, mainly women, who support the movement and who, through their social networks and interviews, express their support for bodily freedom and for showing up for yourself, loving yourself and accepting yourself just the way you are.

One of these people is singer, actress and businesswoman Selena Gomez, who on several occasions has made TikTok videos discussing important causes such as the beauty of real bodies. She continues to receive support from people, even after being criticized by “haters.”

Recently, Selena uploaded a video of herself in a bikini and someone is heard telling her to “hide her belly,” which she flat out refuses to do. “No, I’m not going to hide anything. The real bellies are back, okay?,” she replies firmly, vindicating her figure.

For her part, actress Salma Hayek, who turned 56 this year, is another famous Latina who advocates for body positivity and, also, for something called “conscious aging,” which means that as a person gets older, they embrace the passing of the years without letting the advertising and fashion industries put pressure on them for having to look a certain way.

In fact, Salma Hayek was one of the first celebrities to start showing herself on Instagram without makeup and posting selfies where she looks very natural. 

“Women are not allowed to get old and that is ridiculous. However, it is the reality in which we live. Fortunately, more and more of us are trying to use our influence, be it digital or in any other way, to show women who should not submit to social rules that are obviously more than obsolete,” said the Mexican actress.

History of the “positive bodies” movement

The modern body positivity movement is not the first to advocate the acceptance of all body types. The Victorian dress reform movement, which took place between the 1850s and 1890s, was a forerunner of its time and aimed to end the trend of women having to modify their bodies through corsets and ties. Women also fought for the right to wear pants.

In the United States, in 1969, the National Association for the Advancement of Acceptance of Fat was created to help end discrimination based on body weight and change the dialogue around obesity and health. In the 1990s, body positivity was primarily focused on giving people of all sizes a place where they could get together and exercise.

But it was only in 2010 that, with the revolution in social networks, the “Body positivity” movement began to position itself. Currently, “Body Positivity” is on platforms like Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Thanks to this, people are learning to accept themselves for who they are and stop comparing themselves to unrealistic images circulating on the Internet or other media. And although huge steps have been made in society, there is still a long way to go to achieve real respect for each and every one of the bodies that exist in the entire world. The peaceful struggle must continue.