‘Beyond Recognition’: Exploring Transformation, Witnessing & Subjectivity in Fitness Social Media

Abstract

Millions of posts on social media platforms are dedicated to the documentation of transformation of self through fitness, particularly the transformation of female bodies. GRRRL – a fitness brand that describes itself as the ‘world’s first activewear brand for ALL bodies’ – and their social media accounts are one small part of this much larger eco-system of fitness-based social media. Transformation through fitness is utilized as a theme by GRRRL in their activism and branding, and their social media accounts allow individuals to connect via mutual engagement in workouts, diets, weight-loss, bodybuilding, nutrition, and a variety of other health and physical practices. GRRRL’s social media presence includes a variety of accounts across platforms, but this paper specifically focuses on the brand’s public Instagram account, @grrrl_clothing. On Instagram, GRRRL seeks to diversify representations of women in media and fitness by providing a platform ‘to empower women to share their experiences and come together to make a better world’. @grrrl_clothing’s page displays a variety of bodies and narratives of women’s empowerment while blurring the lines between contemporary forms of digital feminist activism and advertising. Pages like @grrrl_clothing depict individuals’ transformations, and provide a space in which followers can share their own transformative experiences, providing testimony and evidence of the capacity of fitness transformations to facilitate empowering self-realization for those who participate.