Skinny-Tok: What happened to body positivity and how can we fight the change?

Remember when we were making actual progress with body positivity? When brands were finally showing diverse bodies and we were calling BS on toxic diet culture? Well, guess what? The patriarchy found a new way to slither back into our feeds, and it's more toxic than ever: "Skinny-Tok."

Have you scrolled through TikTok lately? That flood of "what I eat in a day" videos showing barely enough calories to sustain a toddler? The endless "body checks" of already-thin women documenting their shrinking frames? With over 74,000 videos under the #skinnytok hashtag, this isn't just some harmless trend—it's a full-on assault on our bodies and minds.

I'm in my mid-twenties and thought I was entirely over hating my body and what it looks like. I didn't restrict myself anymore from enjoying a dessert when I was craving it, I stopped overexercising, and I stopped constantly blaming my body for what it looked like. And guess what, I was the happiest I've ever been with my body, no food noise, no troll in my ear that tells me I'm fat. But recently I found myself over and over again on Skinny-Tok. I'm not actively looking for it, but it just pops up in my feed, as does the food noise, and so does the little troll. 

Let's call it what it is: the same old patriarchy in a shiny new TikTok package. And it's not a coincidence that this resurgence of extreme thinness is happening alongside a rise in right-wing politics. They're connected, and we need to talk about it.

At the center of this dumpster fire stands Liv Schmidt, a 23-year-old influencer who built her brand on—wait for it—"being skinny." Before TikTok finally banned her in September 2024, she amassed 670,000 followers by sharing her "skinny girl hacks" and captioning videos with gems like "Basic fit because the accessory is being blonde & skinny."

Did the ban stop her? Hell no. She's still out there on Instagram with 129,000 followers and selling exclusive content for $19.99 monthly. Her response to criticism? "I'm not problematic, you're just too sensitive." Classic gaslighting, anyone?

Here's where it gets even more sinister. This obsession with thinness isn't happening in a vacuum—it's part of a broader political movement that wants to control women's bodies and roll back our rights.

The far right has been working overtime to normalize their ideology in mainstream culture, and guess what? Controlling women's bodies through impossible beauty standards is part of their playbook. As Julia Ebner, author of "Going Mainstream: How Extremists Are Taking Over," puts it: "Fascist ideologies tend to paint an idealized vision of the human body, and women's bodies in particular are seen as vessels."

Vessels. Let that sink in.

This concept of "body fascism" creates hierarchies—thin over fat, white over Black and Brown, abled over disabled. And it's no accident that these hierarchies reinforce each other. The type of thinness being promoted is overwhelmingly white, wealthy, and able-bodied.

Want to know something truly disturbing? Researcher Hazel Woodrow points out: "If I was trying to radicalize a young girl, I would incite an eating disorder because your capacity of critical thought is kneecapped by starvation." That's right—when you're starving, you can't think clearly enough to question the other harmful ideologies being fed to you.

So what do we do when faced with this patriarchal, right-wing assault on our bodies? We fight back, that's what.

First, we call it out. Every time you see a Skinny-Tok video, recognize it for what it is—not just a harmless beauty trend but a politically charged movement designed to make us smaller in every sense of the word.

Second, we support brands and movements that actually give a damn about women's bodies and health. Companies like Gotyu, which create period underwear and innovative solutions that truly fit women's bodies of all shapes and sizes, are doing the real work of supporting women rather than shrinking us.

Third, we build communities that celebrate what our bodies can DO rather than how they LOOK. Your body is an instrument, not an ornament. It's the vehicle that carries you through this world, that experiences pleasure, that creates and nurtures and fights.

The body positivity movement isn't dead—it's just facing a coordinated attack. And we need to stand together, support inclusive brands, and tell the patriarchy and its right-wing agenda to back the hell off our bodies.

At Gotyu, we're not here for arbitrary beauty standards—we're here for YOU, in all your glorious shapes and sizes. Because real innovation serves women's actual needs, and real empowerment means having the freedom to exist in your body without constant judgment.