What to Know
If it feels like the body positivity movement that was once so strong has been losing steam over the past few years, that’s because it has. Several influencers in this space have decided to make changes in their lives that also changed their bodies, including Gabriella Lascano. In a new TikTok video, she claimed that the internet turned on her for deciding to lose weight, but in the end, her decision all came down to her health.
Gabriella is speaking out in a new video for NYT Opinion.
@nytopinion GLP1-s have exploded in popularity, and the body positivity movement is at a crossroads. What does loving yourself at any size mean now that weight loss is becoming more accessible than ever? Can you still be body positive while wanting to lose weight? The former body positivity influencer @gabriellalascano argues that the movement has lost its way and taken an extreme turn in recent years. But she says there’s a middle ground that still champions self-love and bodily autonomy while redefining them, too. #nytopinion ♬ original sound – New York Times Opinion
Gabriella said that at first, she found a lot of acceptance and peace in the body positive movement, but over time, she began questioning her choices, especially after two fellow plus sized influencers died.
“Some days, I would look at photos and not even recognize myself,” she said. “I’m only five feet tall and at my heaviest, I was close to 400 pounds. I started to wonder if loving myself at any size had become an excuse to ignore how big I was getting. I felt like I saw myself being brainwashed, essentially. Meanwhile, the language around body positivity began sounding more extreme online.”
In 2023, she decided to announce that she no longer believed it was “fatphobic to care about your health,” and her once friendly followers turned against her.
The backlash she received was brutal.
One person recorded a video saying that she was “seething with anger” over what Gabriella said, while others accused her of having “internalized fatphobia” and of selling out.
“The body positivity community branded me a pariah, and so I left,” she said.
In the end, Gabriella has found a new definition of body positivity.
Now that she has begun to make more changes for her health, she said that she’s in a better place that allows her to feel more like herself again.
“We can still be body positive while acknowledging these risks. We can still love ourselves even if we want to lose weight,” she said. “That’s what real body positivity should stand for. Loving yourself at any size and having the freedom to change it.”
