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

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.