The body positive… or the body neutral? A content analysis of body positivity and body neutrality hashtagged videos on TikTok

• Published in: Body image 2024-09, Vol.50, p.101737, Article 101737
• Main Authors: Aubrey, Jennifer Stevens, Zeng, Jiaqi, Saha, Kausumi, Gahler, Heather, Dajches, Leah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Body neutrality; Body positivity; Content analysis; Social media
• ISSN: 1740-1445; 1873-6807; 1873-6807
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101737

The goal of the present study was to examine how body positivity and body neutrality are presented on TikTok. Based on a grounded-theory analysis, body-positivity themes included Broadly Conceptualizing Beauty (i.e., diversity in appearance types is beautiful), Body Acceptance and Love (i.e., love for and comfort in one’s body), and Critiquing Standards (i.e., rejecting strict appearance standards). Body-neutrality themes included Size Inclusivity (i.e., people’s activities/preferences should be based on body size), Adaptive Self-Investment (i.e., self care focused on health), Body Appreciation (i.e., respect for what one’s body can do), and No Judgment (i.e., a person’s worth should not be based on appearance). Further, based on a content analysis of 394 TikTok vidoes that were hashtagged with body positivity and/or body neutrality terms, at least one body-positivity theme occurred in 35.3% (n = 141) of videos, and at least one body neutrality theme occurred in 45.0% (n = 180) of videos. Body Acceptance and Love was the most common body-positivity theme, and Size Inclusivity was the most common body-neutrality theme. Understanding how TikTok videos present body positivity and neutrality is essential to further theorizing about how they might affect social media users. •Body neutrality has evolved in response to body positivity.•Body Acceptance and Love was the most common body positivity theme in TikTok videos.•Size Inclusivity was the most common body neutrality theme in TikTok videos.•In body neutrality videos, content creators were most likely to be “normal weight.”•Objectification was overrepresented in videos that contained body positivity themes.