All in Narrative

THE HISTORY OF THE BODY POSITIVITY MOVEMENT (FAT ACTIVISM)

THE HISTORY OF THE BODY POSITIVITY MOVEMENT (FAT ACTIVISM)

Kristin Ulmer
Narrative

What is body positivity anyways? How did the movement start?

Scrolling through your Instagram feed or reading articles on Refinery 29, you’ve probably noticed the words “body positivity” thrown around. Body positivity was a concept I first encountered when I started blogging nearly 4 years ago. While I initially thought I understood what these words meant, over time I realized there was a lot more history that I needed to explore. 

Last summer, I spent time reading about the history of the fat activism movement in order to better understand the origins of the body positivity movement. Additionally, I interviewed a plus sized blogger, Nyla, who I had been a following on Instagram for a while and has strong understanding of the movement. 

BODY CON(FIDENCE)

BODY CON(FIDENCE)

Kristin Ulmer
Dresses, Narrative

If my friend and (photographer) Mary hadn’t encouraged me to try on this dress at Aritzia, I’m not sure if I would have. Wearing this dress made me realize that I shy away from sharing clothes on my blog that are curve hugging. Scrolling through my previous outfit blog posts made this abundantly clear to me. I only saw myself wearing 2 styles I would considered “body con” or “curve hugging”. I’m sure that if you have been following my blog, you have probably noticed this too. My tendency is to wear A-line dresses and skirts more than anything because they feel safe.