WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Express Your Body Positivity
Conversations about women’s rights, gender expression, sexual agency, and beauty touch on a topic that affects us all: body positivity. And perhaps nowhere are these conversations as spirited, honest, and supportive as in the communities thriving in apps.
From illustrations sharing intensely personal viewpoints in Pinterest to members of the forums in the fertility and period-tracking resource Glow, women around the world are using apps to debate, fact-check, and share notes on all aspects of body positivity. Here’s a look at just a few.
Bringing lived experiences to light with Pinterest
“Women are judged pretty much everywhere. Our bodies are under pressure all the time,” says Brazilian illustrator Carol Rossetti.
To combat this reality, she started the Women Project—a series of sketches of women and nonbinary people.
She describes these drawings as “real stories but with fictional characters.” One depicts Amanda, who “decided that shaving is not her thing.” The character is named after singer Amanda Palmer, the first woman Rossetti saw display her body hair with pride.
“Body hair is there because you want it to be there—I think that’s a great way to start talking about women’s bodies and our autonomy to decide what we want,” Rossetti says.
Women are judged pretty much everywhere. Our bodies are under pressure all the time.
—Carol Rosetti, illustrator
The project went viral in 2014 and helped kick-start her career. Today most users find her work through hashtags like #bodypositivity on Pinterest. Social media helped Rossetti find inspiration for her drawings—most are based on anecdotes people shared with her after seeing her previous work.
She believes that visibility in and of itself can have a meaningful impact. “Body positivity and autonomy are much more present in our daily lives,” Rossetti says. “Young girls are now growing up with more references. They feel like they have more choice.”
Join the conversation: Search the app for “body positivity” to find a wealth of self-love artwork, body-positive photographs, wise and witty quotations, posters for purchase, and more. If you come across a visual that moves you, add your own Pin!
Judgment-free sharing with Blue Fever
By pairing journaling with a supportive and anonymous in-app community, Blue Fever has created a uniquely safe space for body-positive self-expression. The app makes it easy to keep a personal diary—and add pages anonymously to group journals. It’s a place to share your thoughts, fears, and successes in a judgment-free zone.
While you can adorn your journal pages with stickers, the app never requests access to your photos. According to CEO and founder Greta McAnany, creation in Blue Fever is about expression, not performance—one reason conversations about body positivity and self-love have flourished there.
We want you to be your authentic self. You can bring all parts of yourself to Blue Fever.
—Greta McAnany, Blue Fever CEO and founder
“If you are dealing with body confidence issues, we’ll guide you to a community discussing that topic. If you’re questioning your pronouns, you can go to a different community that can relate,” McAnany says. “You don’t just have to be one person or one brand. We want you to be your authentic self. You can bring all parts of yourself to Blue Fever, but sometimes one part is seeking support more loudly than another.”
Join the conversation: The app is loaded with templates that make it easy to craft beautiful journal pages containing text, stickers, and GIFs. Check the Self-Love Workshop templates for writing prompts that encourage you to celebrate who you are, then read how others in the Blue Fever community responded.
Destigmatizing menstruation with Glow
When it comes to periods, Glow doesn’t shy away from the details. The app dives into the full range of experiences of period-havers, empowering them with knowledge about their cycles, connecting them to others with similar health goals, and encouraging body-positive conversations.
In addition to tracking your cycle, you can record your pain levels, moods, spotting, discharge, and more. For Eva Cui, Glow’s VP of product, keeping tabs on symptoms and understanding our bodies is an essential part of normalizing conversations around menstruation. “Periods have been a taboo subject for some time, and a lot of women don’t have a space to talk about it,” Cui says. “That’s why our community exists.”
Glow’s groups encourage members to celebrate everything their bodies can do before, during, and after pregnancy. Period hacks, IVF, birth control, sex, and self-care are popular topics.
Periods have been a taboo subject for some time, and a lot of women don’t have a space to talk about it.
—Eva Cui, Glow’s VP of product
“Discussing these distinct, special stages is very important,” says Cui. “People share images with the community and say, ‘I’m pregnant and proud of my body,’ and other moms encourage them on their journey. We love facilitating these connections.”
Join the conversation: In the app’s Community section, tap the Periods & Sexual Health category to find the Period Talk group, which has over 10 million members. There you can join lively threads like “Let’s talk periods” and “Period tips.”
Affirming sexual agency with Coral
Coral uses science-based lessons, guided meditations and exercises, and conversation to help people deepen intimacy with their partners. Its guided audio courses help you tune into your body and feel confident in your own skin.
Founder Isharna Walsh hopes the app can help normalize sex and remove some of the baggage many people have around it.
“When you’re raised in a society where everything is telling you you’re not good enough, that manifests in your relationships in all sorts of ways,” she says.
Her goal with Coral is to give everyone—women in particular—tools to combat negative self-talk and shame. Among those tools: learning how to take a moment for mindfulness even when it doesn’t seem intuitive, such as during an intimate encounter.
When you’re raised in a society where everything is telling you you’re not good enough, that manifests in your relationships in all sorts of ways.
—Isharna Walsh, Coral founder
“Pausing to observe your thoughts has a huge impact on changing negative narratives around your body and appearance,” Walsh says. “It allows you to experience more pleasure as well.”
Join the conversation: Tap the Talk section, then scroll down to Body Confidence for forthright discussions on how self-image can affect intimacy with others and yourself. The questions you see were submitted by actual Coral users (“How do I make my husband feel sexy again?), accompanied by responses from the app’s experts and community members.
You must be at least 17 years old to download this app. Apps in this category may contain sexual content, mature themes, and alcohol, tobacco, or drug use references.