I’ve been consciously living my life from a place of body positivity for some time now, but as you probably know, it’s not always an easy road. With all the body shaming out there – whether it’s blatant Internet trolls or more subtle things like advertising that celebrates a “slim” body type – it’s a constant fight to remember that every shape and size is worth celebrating.
Girl With Curves was born out of a need for more body positivity, both in my own life and the cultural dialogue in general, so despite all the negativity out there, I’m so happy to see that there’s a larger movement taking place that challenges the standards of “beauty” we’ve grown accustomed to.
For those times when you could use a little boost in the body positivity department (we could all use it every day, right?), here are five documentaries to remind you that there are people around the world who are fighting to make the all-inclusive mindset the norm.
As a way of confronting her own body image issues, mom and director Taryn Brumfitt spent two years talking to women around the globe about what contributes to women hating their bodies and how we can shift that behavior towards something empowering and positive. Embrace debuted last year at the Sydney Film Festival and has since grown into an international body-positivity movement – it may even inspire you to start your own!
At the time this film was made, Sixty Six Percent of women in the U.S. were plus-size while only 37 percent of women’s apparel in the U.S. was actually made for plus-size bodies. Focusing on those 66 percent, this film talks about the major underrepresentation of real bodies in New York Fashion Week, and how a few key brands and designers helped to spark change in the plus-size territory. A must-watch if you’re curious about the inner workings of the fashion industry.
Prompted by the statistic that “90% of women and young girls say they do not feel represented by the fashion industry or media,” Straight/Curve documentary opens up a candid conversation about how the unattainable body image that’s often sold in the media leads to major self-esteem issues, underperformance, and illness in girls and women.
If you’ve ever wondered why so many “ideal” bodies around the world look so similar, The Illusionists offers some answers. The filmmakers deep dive into the psychology behind the advertising and media industries that create and perpetuate the impossible beauty ideals that are sold daily around the world. Unsettling, but definitely worth watching to see a bigger picture of why the body positivity movement is so important right now.
I must admit that I’m a bit biased for liking this documentary. Plus Sized Wars is a film about the impact that plus-size blogging has had on the fashion and modeling industries. The filmmakers primarily discuss the growing body positivity movement in the UK using plus-size Instagrammers and models.
