It’s a free spirited world, and a similar notion is being interpreted for body positivity as it is now universally accepted among all age groups. More youngsters now ditch the social stigma associated with obesity, or any bias or discriminatory behaviour targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight and a high body fat percentage.
Even though this is controversial, body weight issues have been linked to obese culture, often blaming unpalatable food habits and sedentary lifestyle. However, with fat positivity steadily rising, more people are embracing this as the new normal as opposed to what we often hear as a sign of common courtesy: “Don’t call her fat, it’s rude.”
At some point in time, people with body fat issues were bullied or mistreated. Today, even though one is overweight or medically distressed, it is not considered a stigma. In fact, fat acceptance is like a community movement. It seeks to eliminate the social stigma of obesity, accept the body and live with confidence. The fat acceptance movement originated in the 1960s created by advocates in marginalised populations. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), a non-profit, advocates for the rights of fat people and aims to improve their quality of life, founded in 1969 by Bill Fabrey in Rochester, New York.
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At present, society’s acceptance of fatness, especially among the Gen Z, has evolved while prioritising many other aspects of life. For writer, body positivity advocate and content creator, Anshula Kapoor, shedding body weight has been a transformational journey and an inspiration to all. “I’m still learning to un-hate my body. I’m learning to be okay with my body even on my bad body image days. I’m learning the value of every roll, every stretch mark, every imperfection – my body has carried me through 33 years of emotional and mental ups and downs, she’s fought her way back from every setback. She’s helped me heal, she’s helped me grow. Loving my body is still very new to me, because I’ve spent most of my life neglecting her or being ashamed of her. But I’ve been working on changing that. I’m starting to talk better to her, I’m starting to love who I see in the mirror — and it only took me 30-odd years to say that out loud,” says Kapoor.
Another example of advocating body positivity and ‘self-love’ is tennis icon Serena Williams, who posted in a media interview on the importance of body positivity and self-acceptance, stating how “I want women to know that it’s okay,” she said. “That you can be whatever size you are and you can be beautiful inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful, and what’s not, and that’s not right,” she said.
Model-cum-influencer Sakshi Sindwani’s Instagram description says ‘unapologetically curvy’. She had embraced walking the ramp in a bathing suit at a fashion week for Manish Malhotra’s bridal wear collection in 2021. Even today she doesn’t shy away from endorsing brands on social media, and embracing body positivity. Her posts on Instagram with 674K followers indicate she is one of the most watched and talked about models on social media.
But internet sensation Urfi Javed, for instance, who is known for her bizarre and unusual clothing, posts videos and pictures on social media in self-designed outfits, was trolled for her comments on a podcast when she took a dig at social media influencers and said she hates it when they mislabel ‘obesity’ as ‘body positivity.’
She claimed, “…. You’re being lazy, okay? You’re eating pizzas and burgers every day. And I’m just smelling food. Nahi mazza aa rahi hain, but hum kar rahe hain. Body positivity. They’ve made it a category… Let’s not promote obesity. Not working out at all. And then you’re just going on your Instagram and yelling that I love my body and saying, ‘Mujhe mat troll karo’. Arey, bring trolling back.”
In the age of inclusivity, fashion brands are also working on sizing inclusivity, which has given impetus to gender-neutral clothing and led many brands like FabAlley Curve, Alto Moda by Pantaloons, PlusS, ASOS Curve, Lastinch, Mango among others to offer plus-size fashion. According to the latest Future Market Insights research report, the United States leads the plus size clothing market, with the largest obese population and the most money being spent on plus size clothing. It is projected to reach $1,044.3 billion by 2032. Asia-Pacific is also anticipated to witness high growth potential in the plus size clothing market.