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There is no denying that social media has had a massive impact on the body image of most people. And for a long time, it was mostly bad.
Fortunately, body-positive influencers entered the online sphere with messages of self-love and self-acceptance that more and more people are starting to see and hear.
Whether you’re a brand that wants to collaborate with body-positive influencers or you’re trying to practice more body positivity and body acceptance, here are our picks for the most impactful body-positive power influencers right now.
The Rise Of Body-Positive Influencers
The body-positive movement has had one goal since the start: to respect people, no matter their bodies. The movement aims to normalize normal, human bodies from all around the world. Not just the size, color, and type usually featured on television and social media.
While many recognize social media for the emergence of the movement, the body positivity movement has been around a lot longer than that. Around the 1960s and 70s, a New York group founded the first body-positive movement, originally dubbed the Fat Acceptance movement.
The movement spread outside New York in the 90s and became a firm liberation act in the United States. This was also when a few (very few) plus-size models were invited into the modeling industry.
Still, they were not allowed to walk on runways and their coverage was slim to none. There was still a long way to go.
By the 2000s, we had iconic plus-size models like Ashely Graham on the covers of magazines. But there was still a long way to go, especially for people who were not models but just everyday folk.
#EffYourBeautyStandards And Social Media
Before, the body positivity movement was largely heard through the voice of models. But with the growth of Instagram, normal people could share their bodies and their take on body positivity. To have your voice heard, you no longer needed a magazine or newspaper to broadcast it.
This is exactly what happened on Instagram. #EffYourBeautyStandards is the earliest hashtag to spark the body positive message online, with the aim of celebrating big and small bodies.
Instead of creating content that encourages people to lose weight, the online movement quickly became one that acknowledges the devastating body image issues caused by the media and tried to focus on accepting the human body instead of trying to change it.
Today, Instagram’s body positivity movement is in full swing, inviting people of all shapes, sizes, and colors to join in and share their body positive content. While we still have a long way to go, there is no denying the positive impact the movement has had on body liberation.
The list of body-positive influencers with analytics
You can create and share lists of influencers in trendHERO. That’s how you can get a list with actual follower count and Engagement Rate.
16 Awesome Body-Positivity Influencers To Follow On Instagram
Whether you’re looking for awesome body-positive influencers to work with in your influencer marketing campaigns or want to follow some inspiring people, here are some great influencers on Instagram.
Michelle Elman (@michellelelman) – 243K Followers
Michelle Elman is a life coach, TEDx speaker, and author with over two hundred thousand followers on Instagram. Her Instagram includes life coaching advice and ways to boost your self-confidence and improve your life.
Her content, which ranges from books to podcasts to short videos, tackles the symptoms of low self-esteem and other negative mindsets with the goal of becoming aware of them and working past them.
She’s also steadfast in staying healthy but not motivated by changing her body. It’s a refreshing positive mindset and one many people have found to be tremendously helpful.
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Megan Jayne Crabbe (@meganjaynecrabbe) – 1.2 M Followers
Megan Jayne Crabbe is who you go to when you want to learn positive affirmations and enforcement. The body-positivity influencer is one of the original body-positive advocates and has since grown her portfolio by being a bestselling author, presenter, and host.
Her posts feature positive messages and bikini pics all curvy girls can look up to.
She frequently sheds light on diet culture, her eating disorder recovery, and the inherent racism on the fixation with being thin. Her body confidence is about accepting all body types and everything that comes with them, including stretch marks, cellulite, and body hair.
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Neha Parulkar (@nehaparulkar) – 49.9K Followers
Neha Parulkar is a plus-size model and TEDx speaker who spends her time trying to be the voice she has always needed to hear. As she states on her Instagram bio, she “stopped looking for light and decided to become it herself”.
Besides sharing images of herself and her projects, she also shares about her life, fashion, and her family.
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Jessamyn Stanley (@mynameisjessamyn) – 465K Followers
Jessamyn Stanley is one of the most active online body-positive activists. She also posts on OnlyFans and is trying to break negative associations people have toward the platform and the work she does on it.
Her uplifting messages come through in her load and clear in her award-winning books. The influencer also shares online Yoga lessons and tips for living a healthier lifestyle.
It’s important to note that she’s not trying to advocate for weight loss and instead for being happy and healthy in your body and natural beauty. She’s a fresh breath in the fitness industry, which is overwhelmed by the ideas of losing weight and being as thin as possible.
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Kai Wes (@kai__wes) – 81.6K Followers
Kai Wes encourages users to express themselves and to let go of rigid gender binaries, especially if these gender binaries are keeping you from living your best life.
Their Instagram is filled with stunning fashion, and empowering photoshoots, and helps shed light on what gender transition looks and feels like. According to Kai, they’re a work in progress just like you and there is nothing wrong with that.
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Sarah Nicole Landry (@thebirdspapaya) – 2.2 M Followers
Sarah Nicole Landry promotes body positivity from the perspective of a mother of four. Her positive body image is a work in progress and followers can journey with her as she shares the body she has learned to love after giving birth to four children.
She frequently shares her stretch marks and encourages women and other mothers to shut out negative comments, especially when they come from your own mind.
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Zach Miko (@zachmiko) – 101K Followers
Zach Miko practices self-love and preaches self-confidence to one of the most underrepresented groups in the body positivity movement: men.
That’s why Zach Miko took things into his own hands. The male model shares his body without fear and teaches his following fashion tips and self-confidence. It’s a breath of fresh air in an industry so averse to talking about the need for male self-love.
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Taylor Cole (@taylorcoleofficial) – 6K followers
Taylor Cole is a curve model and influencer who’s gained a loyal following of fans. The model shares behind-the-scenes images and photoshoots of her looking and feeling great. According to Taylor Cole, confidence is the best outfit.
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Em Ford (@mypaleskinblog) – 694K Followers
Em Ford burst onto the scene with her video, “You Look Disgusting”. The influencer, who posted makeup videos and shared her struggle with adult acne on her YouTube channel, created the video to showcase all the negative comments she has received because of her skin condition.
The video garnered massive attention and catapulted her fame, making her one of the leading voices on developing adult acne and the struggles with feeling confident when you don’t fit the normal standard.
Instead of reinforcing negative associations, she shows how you can be beautiful, even if your beauty doesn’t “fit in” to the traditional roles.
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Olakemi (@__olakemi__) – 37.2K Followers
Olakemi is a model, scientist, educator, and tutor who advocates for not only diverse body types but also diverse colors in the body positivity community. The body-positive influencer teaches about self-love and the need to include more people of color in the body positivity movement.
She’s also the creator of the Plus Is Diverse campaign, which aims to bring awareness to how we can help empower people all across the world.
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Ryan Sheldon (@realryansheldon) – 20K Followers
Ryan Sheldon is the body-positive advocate you go to when you need radical self-love. The model is openly gay and frequently talks about his own journey to promote self-love for others and himself.
Male body positivity is still sorely underdeveloped, with many men suffering from eating disorders and mental health conditions caused by the lack of diverse traditional male role models.
That’s why voices like Ryan’s are so important. He shares his journey recovering from binge eating and what disordered eating recovery looks like.
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Stephanie Yeboah (@stephanieyeboah) – 235K Followers
Stephanie Yeboah is a body-positive influencer, author, and podcast host with a lot of truth to share. The influencer frequently shares gorgeous images of her feeling great with captions that discuss her journey to becoming comfortable in her own skin.
What has to be most endearing about this influencer is that the journey is ongoing. She takes you along and shares vulnerable moments of clarity and courage in her body.
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Tatyana McFadden (@tatyanamcfaddenusa) – 80.2K Followers
Tatyana McFadden has amassed 7 gold medals as a Paralympic athlete. The wheelchair track athlete is also one of the biggest voices in disability body positivity. She is well known for the work she has done to encourage disabled people interested in sport.
When Tatyana was in high school, she wanted to join her school’s track team and race along with her classmates. Unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed.
Refusing to be cowed, she sued the school and put into motion the Maryland law that states all disabled individuals should be allowed to participate in school sports activities.
She now has a sizable presence on Instagram, where she shares her daily life, promotes her book, and normalizes and empowers disabled athletes.
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Harnaam Kaur (@harnaamkaur) – 122K Followers
Harnaam Kaur was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome at 12 years old and started developing male pattern hair growth because of hirsutism. She was cautioned to live a quiet life because of the condition.
Harnaam Kaur declined and started her work as a body positivity warrior. She’s not ashamed of her hair growth or her body and tries to teach self-love and acceptance on her Instagram account.
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Candice Huffine (@candicehuffine) – 268K Followers
Candice Huffine is a prominent body-positive influencer and curve model with IMG Models. She signed her first modeling contract in 2000 and has been working ever since. She is also the founder of the inclusive fitness brand Day/ Won Activewear.
The model and business owner never let her size dictate her dreams and aims. She also aims to encourage people to practice fun, fulfilling fitness that focuses on feeling better instead of “looking better”.
She frequently shares words of affirmation for people to set goals and explore their limits, no matter what they’ve been taught are their limitations.
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Dana Falsetti (@practicewithdana) – 41.4K Followers
Dana Falsetti calls the body positivity movement “body justice” for the way different bodies have been marginalized. Instead of focusing solely on feeling better, she hopes to address hard issues and how it has impacted POC and other groups.
Her Instagram is full of helpful, actionable steps for a better future and fun, accessible yoga videos for anyone to enjoy.
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Conclusion
Body positivity has seen a rise in recent years, especially with the addition of social media and body-positive influencers. With Instagram, many people have taken up the flag of creating positive online spaces that celebrate all bodies instead of criticizing them or trying to change them.
All of these body-positive influencers are showing us how to empower ourselves and how to accept our natural bodies. Instead of having a goal weight or some other unattainable goal, these influencers show us to aspire to be the healthiest and happiest versions of ourselves.
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