Recently we’ve seen a surge in the body positivity movement, campaigning for acceptance of all body types. The movement aims to help women in particular accept themselves and love themselves as they are, no matter what size they are, and one of the ways they do this is through lobbying to have more body diversity represented in popular media.
Before now, and still the majority of the time now we see an idealised version of what women “should” look like on billboards, television, in films, and in fashion. The idea behind getting more diversity in media is that women who do not fit the “ideal” standard of beauty need to see themselves represented too.
One company that is defying the standard and making a real effort to feature more diverse models in their advertising campaigns is Dove, and their latest campaign is yet another winner for many.
The campaign is “Fat Girls Dance”, and while the title may be jarring for those who are used to skirting around the word “fat”, or who see it as only a negative adjective, it is actually a very uplifting, positive look at women celebrating their own bodies, and living happily as they are.
The ad follows Cathleen’s journey as she “realises her beauty through the power of dance”. With her dance group “Fat Girls Dance,” Cathleen is sharing her body positive message with women everywhere, and redefining what real beauty means.
The film has received its fair share of negative commentary on social media, but it’s worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-owM4crSd4Q