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The Hidden Danger of the Body Positivity Movement That’s Harming You

The dark side of the self-love epidemic that you’re falling for hook, line, and sinker.

Kele Mogotsi
In Fitness And In Health
7 min readOct 1, 2022

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woman in a black tank top holding a tape measure
Photo by Polina Tankilevitch: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-in-black-tank-top-holding-a-tape-measure-6513380/

I modeled a bit throughout college for fun and to make a little extra cash. One day my best friend suggested I put on a lot of weight to become a plus-sized model. I gave her the strangest look and said matter-of-factly, “Well that would be dumb.”

She was immediately offended because she presumed I was offended by the idea of gaining weight. She thought I was being fat-phobic.

Truth is, all my life I was a skinny, bony, weird-looking kid, and even now in college, I was 5"10 and hovering around 130-ish lbs. For me to go on an epic weight gain journey would be as unnatural, unhealthy, and incredibly difficult as trying to lose weight to be a 110lb waif, like the supermodels of the early noughties.

So why would I take on her advice? And why did she think it was a bright idea?

For the sake of being culturally relevant? To stay employed and capitalize on the rise in popularity of plus-sized models?

No.

Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing all kinds of people celebrated, especially in an industry that’s notoriously very exclusive and…

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In Fitness And In Health
In Fitness And In Health

Published in In Fitness And In Health

Medium’s largest collection of science-based and experience-backed insights for a fitter, healthier, and happier you.

Kele Mogotsi
Kele Mogotsi

Written by Kele Mogotsi

An introverted attention-seeker and chronic continent-hopper. Rhymes with jelly.

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