Social media’s advances have made it possible for curvy girls to unite in more ways than one, making it easier than ever to connect with like-minded individuals who want to change the way people think about body shaming.
Recently the Toronto Star reported on the growing body positive community in Toronto and how it has changed the scope of bloggers and personalities that are directly affecting their culture. Karyn Johnson of Killer Kurves has found her niche as curvy blogger with an increasingly growing audience of women who want practical tips on places to shop, and what size to get in certain brands. She frequently shares her story on dealing with bullies and wearing baggy clothes in her teen years but in the end, finding confidence in fashion, something we can all find common ground on.
Karyn’s story in particular is inspiring to hear because a lot of women have gone through going to the mall only to realize that you can’t find anything in your size, wearing clothes you don’t like, and ultimately, not feeling good about yourself because of the little that is available to you. If so little is available to you, it’s not a stretch to believe that society feels that you are not worth much more than you’re given.
Another highlight hailing from Toronto is Jill Andrew, a body image advocate and PhD student at York University that specializes in body positivity activism, race and representation. Her current Change.org initiave is aiming to add size discrimination as a protected ground to the Ontario Human Rights code, which would make size discrimination illegal. Her argument has a lot of heavy hitters like, “Research studies and popular press have noted that significant numbers of people would prefer to be bitten by a dog, hit by a car, spontaneously lose one or more parents, lose a bodily function, or be diagnosed with cancer instead of being fat or ‘obese’ or perceived as much. Findings like these prove the vitriolic unfounded hate and fear that many people have towards the word fat—so much so that they’d welcome other troubling, life-altering challenges in its place.”
Activism through social media has empowered individuals to voice their opinions on body shaming and trolls who just want to be miserable human beings, but at some point there has to be strategy behind the activism. Would it be naïve to hope that this petition somehow trickles down to the States? Well, here’s hoping it does.
