Kyla Brathwaite (philosophy of communication, ‘24) is a PhD student at Ohio State who researches women’s body image and the prosocial movement of body positivity, or BoPo. Brathwaite focuses on how social media, primarily Instagram, adopts and employs BoPo, and how this affects the acceptance of the body positivity movement by social media users.
Brathwaite argues that social media can be a potential advantage in light of body positivity. She studies how messaging can affect people because Brathwaite says that social media constantly implicates women’s ideas of beauty and body image.
“Body positivity isn’t just about body size,” Brathwaite said. “It’s about representation in general.”
Brathwaite looks at how women’s ideas and conceptions of body and beauty differ based on manipulating the message/advertising source and the messenger’s race and body size. Brathwaite’s research has found that altering these can change people’s acceptance of the movement.
The prosocial body positivity movement is rooted in the fat positivity movement of the 1960s when marginalized women advocated for anti-discrimination in the workplace. Then, the body positivity movement started in the 2010s, skyrocketing on social media.
“Social media is so powerful and anyone is able to get a platform, whether good or bad,” said Brathwaite. “Studying how social media can be used for good is so important.”
Brathwaite primarily studies Instagram and has research examining Instagram messaging as compared to Flickr and blogging platforms under review, but found no significant differences in effects between platforms. Moving into other platforms like TikTok and Reddit interests Brathwaite, but she said the stimuli creation would be challenging and she would need to get creative with the survey methodology.
Brathwaite has three publications on her studies of body positivity. Her research was also cited in a Lantern article, Beauty Burnout: Exploring TikTok’s Effects on Self-love and Plastic Surgery Trends.
In her research, Brathwaite crafts surveys with fake Instagram accounts. The goal is that the accounts look like they have come directly from the internet and are naturally in line with body-positive images and captions. Brathwaite also standardizes the fake Instagram content across all body sizes and levels of sexualization.
“I’ve mastered creating fake Instagrams,” Brathwaite said. “We are able to better make our stimuli more ecologically valid and representative of what is out there.”
Brathwaite’s master thesis, BoPopriation, evaluates the body positivity movement, manipulating whether the message comes from everyday users, influencers or corporate sponsors, and how that impacts the efficacy of the social movement. At first, Brathwaite was cynical about what she thought she would find.
“I was really surprised that overall, people see body-positive content no matter who it’s coming from as pretty positive,” Brathwaite said. “But when they feel like the body-positive content is not in line with their perceived judgments about the movement, it’s not liked as much.”
In research, “you have to be willing to adapt and reconsider,” Brathwaite said. “Even if you don’t find exactly what you think is going to happen, there is still something in there that is valuable and that you can learn from and adopt into another study.”
Brathwaite started college as a pre-med biology major at Cornell University in 2014 with a concentration in nutrition. Due to her interest in women’s health, Brathwaite joined a nutrition lab focused on women’s cardiac health with intervention. She was working on the website’s graphics, edits and research when her lab manager noticed that her passion lay in women’s health, not specifically pre-med biology. She suggested that Brathwaite try communication courses.
“I just loved how creative you can be with comm,” Brathwaite said. “Had I not taken the risk of dropping my old major and joining a lab that wasn’t really up my alley, I don’t think I would be here today.”
Brathwaite began her master’s degree at Ohio State in 2018 and is now working on her PhD in communication. She researches alongside her advisor, Associate Professor David DeAndrea. Brathwaite also collaborates with Associate Professor Roselyn Lee-Won. Each pair ideates through roundtable discussions, allowing freedom for Brathwaite to dive into her interests and passions.
In addition to research, Brathwaite teaches one class a semester within the School of Communication. For spring 2023, she taught COMM 3668: Intercultural Communication. After graduation, Brathwaite wants to continue doing research and teaching in higher education.
Article written by student Audrey Taylor
