“I can be thick, slim, the whole registry. I am the one who decides.” : A critical discourse analysis on how the fight against body anxiety is made visible on Instagram.

In today’s medialized society we are fed with a constant flow of advertisements, no matter where we are. In these advertisements we see skinny and retouched ideal bodies, especially female bodies. The images shown in the media are the reference frameworks for the human body and in many cases, a conservative social order is propagated where women must exhibit an attractive exterior. This is a social problem for many women all around the world, and the work to counteract these tight ideals is called body activism. This study aims to investigate which different discourses prevail over the fight against body anxiety between different users on Instagram in order to broaden the understanding of how body anxiety is counteracted. The theoretical framework begins with theory and previous research on postmodern feminism and continues with studies related to digital feminism. Subsequently studies on female bodies and their ideals are presented, as well as the shame that is often linked to the norm-breaking body. Finally, the objectification and observation of the female body is presented. The critical discourse analysis is used in combination with a semiotic analysis to examine both image and the text that is linked to it. We have used Faircloughs three-dimensional framework for studying discourse as well as semiotic analytical tools such as connotations and mythologies. In conclusion of this study, we have interpreted these discourses about the struggle of body anxiety as a way of eventually changing the social norms and structures that prevail today. This has been done in different ways by different people, but with similar focus and goals. These people have shared their own experiences in the hope of spreading a body-positive mindset to their readers