From #bodypositive to #weightlossjourney–exploring weight loss narratives within the body positive community

Abstract

With the rising popularity of Ozempic and other glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist medications, so-called “miracle drugs against obesity,” weight loss talk has infiltrated social media spaces previously committed to promoting body positivity. While this trend has been more apparent in the Anglo-American context, similar tensions have also appeared in the Nordic region. This article analyzes how five body positive content creators from the Nordic countries (two from Norway, one from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland) negotiate between two conflicting narratives: the dominant weight loss narrative, and the body positive counter-narrative. The positioning analysis of their Instagram and TikTok content shows how intertwined the two narratives are: while they follow some aspects of the traditional weight loss progress narrative, they reject others, embracing elements from the body positive narrative. By subverting the before-and-after narrative, and by arguing their weight loss was a result of self-acceptance, the content creators are creating a body positive weight loss narrative. However, the inclusion of weight loss in a body positive frame demonstrates how body positivity is no longer understood as a political movement, but as general self-acceptance.