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Pros and Cons of Corporate Sponsorship in the Bodyposi Movement

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SLU chapter.

Clearly, there are some problems in the bodyposi movement. If our leaders are supporting organizations that are super problematic, are they really leading a movement that we want to follow? Yeah, businesses like Aerie say the things corporations need to say, but do they take their message into praxis by being accessible and truly size-inclusive?

Pros:

  1. Businesses are owning up to their effects on women.

Maybe not completely, but any ownership of the effects that advertising and content has aon women is good.

2. Businesses are slowly hiring and not airbrushing more inclusive models.

Bodies are cool. They move and bend and it’s great. Each line, stretch mark, roll, and every single piece of softness is great. Aerie and few other brands aren’t retouching their models anymore. It’s nice to see. Women/womyn have bodies that change and move and react! Let’s see more of that good stuff.

Cons:

  1. Brands still aren’t inclusive.

Bodies are more varied than brands want us to believe. Plus size brands usually pick models fitting the smaller range of their sizing. Non-plus sized brands still focus on their smaller sized models to advertise.

Brands use mostly white models. Especially for their cuter pieces. Go on a clothing website and see what clothes the white models are wear and what clothes the brown and black women are wearing. Are the outfits they wear as cute?

How many outfits do you see advertised online in which the woman wearing it is also in hijab? Niqab?

How old are the women?

As far as I can tell- brands use basically only physically and visibly able-bodied women. Not all women look able-bodied! Where’s the representation there? Sounds fake.

Overall, I’m glad that brands are supporting more women. I’m glad that brands are sponsoring the Instagram people we follow, supporting their efforts, and providing them with an income to do what they do. Though there are a lot of problems with how and who the corporations can sponsor, I’m glad something is changing, and that women are being supported.

Here for women. Here for women supporting women.  

Check out this article for more.

Founder and former Campus Correspondent for the Her Campus chapter at Saint Louis University. Graduating in May 2020 with degrees in Public Health and Women's and Gender Studies. Committed to learning about and spreading awareness for a more self-aware public health field, intersectional feminism, and college radio. Retweet this bio and enter a drawing for a free smartphone!