Denna studie har genomförts med syfte att undersöka hur kroppsaktivister artikulerar kropp och kroppspositivitet genom bilder och texter på deras Instagramkonton. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om, och i så fall hur, artikulationerna av kroppspositivitet skiljer sig mellan olika kroppsaktivister. Slutligen syftar studien till att studera hur kroppsaktivisterna artikulerar syftet med rörelsen. Det teoretiska ramverket består av tidigare forskning och etablerade teorier i postmodern feminism, fat studies, aktivism och objektifiering. Studien har genomförts med ett kvalitativt förhållningssätt och utförts genom en diskursanalys och semiotisk bildanalys av text och bild från tolv svenska kroppsaktivister på Instagram. Resultatet av studien visade att det finns olika åsikter kring vilka kroppar som får vara med i den kroppspositiva rörelsen. En del för en diskussion kring att den endast är till för personer med normbrytande kroppar, medan andra menar att den är till för alla kroppar. Studien visade även att kroppsaktivisterna visualiserar sina kroppar på olika sätt. En del tar bilder som liknar hur kvinnor porträtteras i reklam medan andra tar bilder som bryter mot normer genom val av vinkel och posering. Slutligen visade studien att kroppsaktivisterna ser olika på vilket syfte rörelsen har. Vissa för en diskussion kring att rörelsen ska få andra att må bra i sin egen kropp, andra om att medierna ska visa upp fler kroppstyper. Andra talar om att kroppspositivismen finns för att kvinnokroppen ska sluta utstå objektifiering. / This study has been conducted with the purpose of examining how body activists articulate body and body positivity through imagery and text on their Instagram accounts. This study also aims to investigate if the articulations of body positivity differ, and if so how. Finally, the study aims to examine how body activists articulates the purpose of the movement. The theoretical framework of this study is based on past research and established theories about postmodern feminism, fat studies, activism and objectification. The study has had a qualitative approach and is based on discourse analysis and a semiotic analysis of texts and images from twelve swedish body activists on Instagram. The result of the study showed that there are different opinions regarding which bodies that can be included in the body positive movement. Some of the participants argued that the movement includes all body types, while some argued that the movement should only include norm-breaking types of bodies. The study also showed that the body activists articulates their bodies in different ways. Some of the participants have taken pictures similar to how women are portrayed in advertisements while others have taken norm-breaking types of pictures by the choice of angle and pose. Finally, the study showed that the body activists have a different point of view regarding the purpose of the movement. For some of the body activists the aim of the movement is to make others feel good about their own body while others wants to see more body types in the media. Some of the participants feels that the purpose is to stop objectification of the female body.

Media har en stor påverkan på samhällets kroppsideal då många strävar efter en idealisk kropp. På sociala medier är termer som body positivity och body shaming aktuella, därför har vi använt oss av dessa termer för att fördjupa oss i studien. Syftet med studien är att framhäva konsekvenserna av att bli body shamed, både fysiskt och psykiskt. Body positivity är ett positivt laddat ord då syftet är att man skall acceptera sig själv och inte påverkas av de ytliga normer samhället och media konstruerat. Body shaming är ett negativt laddat begrepp på sociala medier som påverkar många människor negativt mentalt då man utsätts för kränkningar på grund av sitt kroppsliga utseende. Youtube är ett stort nätverk där människor kan ta del av andras vardag och åsikter, som forskningsläge har vi valt att fokusera oss på youtubers och deras videos om kroppsideal. Vi analyserar kommentarer på videos för att komma fram till ett större urval om hur dessa ämnen påverkar individer.

Syftet med detta arbete är att ut ett retorikteoretiskt perspektiv studera nio kroppspositiva bilder från instagramkontot @nudamag i förhållande till den patriarkala diskursen och ideologin som råder på Instagram och i vårt samhälle. I uppsatsen utförs en kritisk diskursanalys av bilderna för att kartlägga hur de är diskursbestridande och vad det betyder i förhållande till makt. Det retorikteoretiska perspektivet är av relevans vid undersökningen av hur en retorisk utgångspunkt kan vara fördelaktig för @nudamag som diskursbestridande konto. Den kritiska diskursanalysen som används är baserad på Norman Faircloughs tredimensionella definition. Analysmodellen tittar alltså på den visuella textens tre dimensioner; text, diskursiv praktik och social praktik. Förhandlingen mellan reproduktion och motstånd i de representerade bilderna kan liknas med en ta och ge-situation. Texterna är normbrytande och skapar ett diskursivt motstånd men genom en retorisk struktur ämnar innehållet inte provocera läsaren vid första anblick heller. Min tolkning är att målet med @nudamag’s innehåll är att genom estetiskt tilltalande bilder nå en så bred publik som möjligt och därav i längden positivt påverka så många människor som möjligt. Sociala medier tillhandahåller ett lättillgängligt verktyg för anti-diskursivt engagemang och effekten av det som sprids i den digitala världen bör inte underskattas. Fler frågor väcks dessutom kring den möjlighet man som konsument har att styra sitt eget intag av medier för att påverka sitt psykiska mående. Hur påverkas egentligen användaren av vem hen följer på Instagram? / The purpose of this thesis is to study nine body-positive images from the instagram account @nudamag in relation to the patriarchal discourse and ideology that prevails on Instagram and in our society. In the essay, a critical discourse analysis of the images is performed to map how they are discouraging and what it means in relation to power. A rhetorical theoretical perspective is also relevant in the investigation of how a rhetorical starting point can be beneficial for @nudamag as an anti-discourse account. The critical discourse analysis used in this thesis is based on Norman Fairclough’s definition of it and thereby utilises a three-dimensional analysis model. Which looks at the three dimensions of the visual text; text, discursive practice, and social practice. The negotiation between reproduction and resistance in the represented images can be compared to a take-and-give situation. The visual texts are norm-breaking and create a discursive resistance, but through a rhetorical structure the content does not intend to provoke the reader at first sight either. My interpretation is that the goal of @nudamag's content is to reach as wide an audience as possible through aesthetically pleasing images and thereby positively influence as many people as possible in the long run. Social media provides an easily accessible tool for anti-discursive engagement and the impact of what is spreading in the digital world should not be underestimated. More questions are also raised about the opportunity you as a consumer have to control your own intake of media text and what that would do for your mental health. How is the user really affected by who they follow on Instagram and what can they do about it?

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This thesis aims to examine how the usage of different-sized models can improve consumer loyalty to a brand of female customers in Sweden. Previous research has examined how using non-skinny models appeals to female customers and what feelings are evoked, but there is little research on how this approach can increase consumer loyalty as a whole. The authors of this thesis hypothesize that brands using different-sized models will lead to female customers feeling higher levels of the concepts of Awareness and Safety concerning the brand. In turn, the authors hypothesize that a brand achieving high levels of Awareness and Safety within the context of using different-sized models will improve consumer loyalty toward their female customers in Sweden. To examine whether different-sized models have an impact on consumer loyalty, a deductive approach has been used where this thesis relies on existing theories to answer the research question. Data was collected through a survey consisting of multi-choice questions with closed answers in order to conduct a quantitative analysis of the data. The questions were operalized, and the internal validity of each concept was tested through Cronbach’s Alpha to ensure that the questions measured what they were supposed to measure. The data was analyzed through Spearman’s Rank Correlation test, where the dependence between the concepts was measured. In conclusion, the authors found that usage of different-sized models had a positive correlation with consumer loyalty through both aspects of Awareness and Safety. Based on the results and the collected literature, the authors believe that usage of different-sized models in a company’s online business activities can help build a stronger relationship with their customers.

This thesis investigates how body positivity and sustainability are discursively constructed by fast fashion brands. The brand chosen as a case study is H&M, as it describes itself as being both environmentally and socially involved. Yet, despite H&M's claims, during our preliminary research we were able to detect the lack of accessibility of sustainable collections to plus size customers. In this essay, we analyze how H&M communicates body inclusivity in its sustainability reports, website, and YouTube campaigns promoting conscious lines. Drawing on theories of representation, biopolitics, and post-feminism, we sought to critically analyze the previously mentioned material through a multimodal critical analysis. The results show how H&M discursively constructs health communication in different ways depending on which clothing line the brand is promoting and to which consumers it is being advertised. Class discourses were recognized, leading to exclusive access to sustainable clothing for higher income shoppers. We believe this work is relevant to opening up the discussion about democratization and making sustainable items fully accessible to everyone.

Background: There is a ubiquitous societal trend to define one’s self-worth based on externalities such as looks. The visibility of idealised and homogenous, mainly white, ‘perfect’ bodies in mass media contributes to the surge in body dissatisfaction of individuals, especially young women. This is accompanied by ethical problems such as mental diseases and eating disorders. Moreover, it renders young women with a high body dissatisfaction a profitable target group for several industries. Purpose: This paper develops and tests a model on how different levels of Body Image Satisfaction impact young female’s emotional responses and their attitude towards the advertisements and the brand that uses them. It directly compares these effects for Body Positivity (BoPo) advertising (visuals of diversities of physical appearances) and traditional, idealised imagery in an experimental setup. With this, this study aims to prove that a high level of Body Image Satisfaction and thus BoPo content makes economic sense. Method: This study measures the psychological constructs Body Image Satisfaction, experiential emotional response and attitude. It draws on research on how different body types are used to profit from the effects of self-esteem advertising while linking them to research on the Body Image Satisfaction of young females. BoPo commercials are compared to traditional, idealised imagery in commercials and measured consumer reactions to both using a quantitative survey in a representative panel in Germany. Conclusion: High Body Image Satisfaction leads to a more positive experiential emotional response, a more positive attitude towards commercials, and a more positive attitude towards brands for any type of commercials. Commercials with BoPo content are highly accepted. As the exposure to BoPo content leads to a higher Body Image Satisfaction, BoPo content in mass media is ethically desirable and also economically beneficial.

Today we live in an advertised-oriented society and we are constantly exposed to commercialized messages. Most advertising is based on stereotypical portraits of humans. And something that has attracted attention during the last decade is the one-sided representation that appears in these advertisements. This matter has been particularly relevant during the last decade with the emergence of significant societal phenomena and the questioning of power relations in society. Among these, Black Lives Matter, Metoo, and the Body Positivity-movement. This study aims to investigate what stereotypes can be identified in H&Ms advertisement and if these have changed over the last two decades. The theoretic framework consists of representation, the designation of ethnicity, stereotypes, and corporate social responsibility. Semiotic image analysis has been used as the method, and from this tool such as denotation, connotation, and body rhetoric have been implemented for the execution of the analysis. The result that emerged from the analysis showed that the gender stereotypes have changed over the studied years, as well as the amount of diversity of the objects portrayed in H&Ms advertising. The diversity that holds the most significant change is that people of color are more prominent in the later ads. When it comes to diversity in body types and plus-size models a decrease can be identified. Furthermore, the results also left us questioning if it is successful for companies to include diversity and implement the current trends in society in their advertisement

Syfte: Syftet med denna studien är att se hur de etiska strömningarna påverkan modeföretags beslut om att utöka storlekarna och implementera större storlekar. Forskningsfrågorna är 1.  Av vilka anledningar väljer svenska modeföretag att utöka sitt storleksutbud med större storlekar? och 2. Vad har sociala medier och etiska strömningar för inverkan på legitimitetsskapande affärsbeslut?   Teoretiskt ramverk: Denna studie använder sociala medier, den kroppspositivistiska rörelsen och konsekvenser av negativ publicitet som teoretisk bakgrund. Studien är även baserad på viktiga begrepp från institutionell teori; legitimitet, decoupling och mimetic isomorphism. Metod: Denna studie är baserad på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod  med hjälp av intervjuer hos två svenska modeföretag. De anställda som blev intervjuade hade alla roller som antingen varit involverade i beslutet om att utöka storlekar eller som har påverkats av det.   Resultat: Resultaten av studien visar att den kroppspositivistiska rörelsen har haft en inverkan på de studerade företagens beslut att utvidga deras storlek. Andra orsaker som hittades var att undvika negativ publicitet samt skapa legitimitet. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to see how ethical currents affect fashion companies' decisions to widen their size range and implement bigger sizes. The research questions are 1. For what reasons do Swedish fashion companies decide to widen their size range with bigger sizes? and 2. What influence does social media and ethical currents have on legitimacy based business decisions? Theoretical foundation: This study uses theoretical background on social media, the body positivity movement and consequences of negative publicity. The study is also based on important concepts taken from the institutional theory; legitimacy, decoupling and mimetic isomorphism. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a qualitative research method involving two Swedish fashion companies. The employees who were interviewed all have roles that are either involved in the decision to widen the size range or have been affected by it. Findings: The results of the study shows that the body positivity movement has had an impact on the companies' of this study’s decision to widen their size range. Other reasons found were to avoid negative publicity and create legitimacy.

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