“Instafamous” Women and the Question of Empowerment: A Feminist Reading of Popular Constructions of the Female Body on Instagram

Authors

Presenter(s)

Sarah E Spech

Files

Description

Instagram has skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years, catapulting some of its users into a new type of fame--"Instafame." Female users who achieve "Instafame" do so in large measure by carefully constructing an identity that articulates a popular ideal of the female body. Many commentators see this presentation of self as a new means of empowerment. But others argue that these "Instafamous" women are pressured to objectify themselves in order to accumulate thousands of “likes” to create and sustain their celebrity status. In this presentation, I analyze the images on some popular fitness Instagram accounts using the feminist work of Kate Millet.

Publication Date

4-9-2016

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Susan L. Trollinger

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Recommended Citation

"“Instafamous” Women and the Question of Empowerment: A Feminist Reading of Popular Constructions of the Female Body on Instagram" (2016). Stander Symposium Projects. 756.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/756