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.