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Sustainable Body Positivity Movement: Analysis of the Discourse on Body Image in Korean Society

Author

Listed:
  • Na-Young Choi

    (Department of Physical Education, Graduate School of Education, Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul 04310, Republic of Korea)

  • Young-Vin Kim

    (Department of Sport & Leisure Studies, Division of Arts & Health Care, Myongji College, Seoul 03656, Republic of Korea
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Hyunkyun Ahn

    (Department of Sport & Leisure Studies, Division of Arts & Health Care, Myongji College, Seoul 03656, Republic of Korea
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

In contemporary society, the discourse on body image is increasingly emerging as a notable social issue. In particular, the body positivity movement is promoting healthy body image and self-esteem through various means. This study was conducted to analyze the discourse on sustainable body image in Korean society. User-generated content from 1 January 2014 to 31 July 2023 underwent data refinement and term frequency (TF), TF–inverse document frequency (TF–IDF), and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) analyses. The number of blog posts in 2020 was nearly triple the number in 2019. Thus, the analysis period was divided into first (from 2014 to 2019) and second (from 2020 to 31 July 2023) periods. The TF–IDF analysis showed that shooting, photo, diet, exercise, goal, and challenge were among the top words in the first period, while Instagram-related words were mosr frequent in the second period. This finding suggested that social distancing policies significantly affected social media usage. The LDA analysis revealed five topics that were common in the first and second periods and three topics that emerged in the second period. Overall, while Western societies tend to idealize specific body types, body image discourse in Korea is centered around exercise as a means to achieve “photography” or “photo shoot”-related goals. Exercise is perceived as an activity performed for pleasure rather than attaining a particular body shape. Furthermore, there is a desire to document one’s body beautifully and maintain exercise habits in the long run. The results of this study could serve as foundational material for establishing and sustaining a positive body image culture.

Suggested Citation

  • Na-Young Choi & Young-Vin Kim & Hyunkyun Ahn, 2024. "Sustainable Body Positivity Movement: Analysis of the Discourse on Body Image in Korean Society," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6555-:d:1447095
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Smith, Andrew N. & Fischer, Eileen & Yongjian, Chen, 2012. "How Does Brand-related User-generated Content Differ across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter?," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 102-113.
    2. Daniela Di Michele & Francesca Guizzo & Natale Canale & Fabio Fasoli & Francesca Carotta & Arianna Pollini & Mara Cadinu, 2023. "#SexyBodyPositive: When Sexualization Does Not Undermine Young Women’s Body Image," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-29, January.
    3. Jiabei Xia & Tailai Wu & Liqin Zhou, 2021. "Sharing of Verified Information about COVID-19 on Social Network Sites: A Social Exchange Theory Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-12, January.
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