Student Presenter(s): Deliesha Gilbert and Aurelie Monthe
Faculty Mentor: Melissa Huey
School/College: Arts and Sciences, Manhattan

With the rise of social media, the body positivity movement has become a hot topic in pop culture in recent years. The origins of the movement can be traced back to the fat acceptance movement of the 1960s, which sought to challenge the discrimination that fat people faced. Since then, the movement has taken many names and faces, with the body positivity movement of the 2010s being the newest one. Starting in 2012 and with the help of social media, the movement seeks to challenge beauty standards and promote body diversity. However, the movement has received both praise and criticism. Supporters see it as promoting body diversity and body acceptance, while critics see it as promoting obesity and lacking nuance when it comes to the overall health of a person. This study aimed to investigate whether or not the body positivity movement encourages individuals to better their physical health and quality of life. Participants were college-aged women who were chosen to do a survey to test how healthy their lives were, as well as their relation to the body positivity movement. The survey was broken into three parts. The first part centered around body image and confidence, the second part focused on body positivity and its relation to it, while the final part centered around healthy lifestyles.