By Julia Esposito and Rachel Priest
What once started as a dancing and lip syncing app is now a diary where millions of people share their thoughts and actions for everyone to see. Even though this certainly has its downsides, many creators on TikTok began to use their platform to promote body positivity to encourage their audience to be confident in their own skin.
A significant factor for the rise in body positivity influencers originates from fashion. When skinny people post themselves in cropped shirts or bikinis, their comment section is mostly filled with “what do you eat in a day,” “what’s your workout routine” or “I would never complain if I looked like that.” They feel like they can’t wear what they want because they don’t have the same figure as the random person they’re staring at through a screen.
When the “what I eat in a day” and “workout routine” videos are made, they can often get out of hand because these kids are blindly following people they never met in order to look like them. Health is important to live a well balanced life, but all body types are unique, making no specific routine available that would make them look exactly like said person. Just because someone changes their eating or exercise habits to match the girl with the “dream body,” that doesn't mean they are going to magically look like them due to the fact that every body functions differently.
Source by Rachel Priest
As time progresses, many come to the true realization that the perfect body doesn't exist.
Influencers began to notice this toxic side of TikTok and tried to normalize what was constantly being put down. For example, TikToker Clara Macciocchi's page is filled with videos showing unfiltered parts such as a bloated stomach in a bikini or cellulite in a pair of denim shorts. She does this in hope to help people realize that those things are healthy, and just because you may not be the smallest size, that doesn’t give you any less right to wear what you want. Although she receives negative comments about how she should not be exposing herself in that way, she disregards them because her fans have exclaimed how much help and comfort she provides. There are tons of other TikTokers who help people throughout the genuinity of their videos in hopes to change the toxicity the social media world could be.
These TikTok pages help many, but sometimes they may go too far. Some take advantage of the fact that body positivity is trending to post extremely unhealthy lifestyles. Someone can be healthy and not look like a Victoria's Secret model, but when people are promoting no dietary restrictions and very limited exercise, this could also be harmful. That lifestyle can lead to a multitude of illnesses and diseases.
No one should be ashamed to wear anything because at the end of the day it is just a piece of fabric. As long as you feel good and are healthy, there is nothing to worry about.