The NY Times published an interesting story today about a plus-sized “body positivity” influencer named Dronme Davis. Davis, who lives in California, attracted roughly 100,000 followers on Instagram by posting images of herself modeling for a plus-sized fashion company. But the twist on the story is what happened next. Davis began to lose weight to the point that she was no longer heavy. Suddenly she didn’t know what to say to her fans about it.
Ms. Davis gained a following through posts that criticized diet culture as she built a career as a curve model — she wore up to a size 16 or XXL — most prominently for Dôen, a California fashion brand known for floral prairie dresses typically worn by more willowy women. Her feed was a running commentary on the unrealistic expectation to conform to a thin ideal: “A flat stomach won’t change your life” and “It’s so exhausting being afraid and ashamed of parts of ur body.”
Then, over just a few months, Ms. Davis shrank.
There’s an Instagram post embedded in the story from about 3 years ago when she was still on the heavy side. I’m not sure when she started losing weight but all of the images she’s posted in the last year show she’s become thin.
Her fans suspected that she had gotten in on the Ozempic weight loss craze but Davis denies that. The truth is somewhat more embarrassing for her. It sounds like she just started dieting again. That specific word isn’t used, instead the Times presents her weight-loss as relapse of “disordered eating practices.” We’re really left guessing because Davis still hasn’t said what she did to lose weight. And if the author of this story knows she isn’t saying either.
“I’m scared of being judged or yelled at or letting people down,” she said. “Which is ironic, because I think my silence is letting people down more than me talking about it.”
And it seems some of her former fans are upset and some are merely demanding and explanation. This strikes me as a really stupid thing for people to be upset about. She looks healthy and probably is healthier than she was when she was overweight. This ought to be seen as a positive instead of a negative but it’s not for a certain online culture who want to be told that being overweight is good. Another plus-sized influencer who did decide to take one of the new weight-loss drugs told disappointed fans to stuff it.
The plus-size influencer Rosey Blair, who is taking Mounjaro, seemed defiant when she posted: “Full transparency: I have zero remorse or shame for being public about my weight loss. Two years ago, I couldn’t wipe my own ass!” Critics called her ableist and self-hating.
Another influencer admitted she hadn’t been honest about the downsides of being overweight and was quickly inundated with outrage.
The longtime curve model Gabriella Lascano filmed a TikTok video last year about her decision to lose weight, explaining that she felt “guilty” for being part of the body-positive movement. She told The Times she hadn’t been honest about “the trials and tribulations of gaining weight and getting older.” People accused her of equating thinness with health and of producing content that could be used to “justify fatphobia.” The outrage was so intense that she removed the video.
The idea that being overweight was a net positive never made sense and now that some of these folks have new options to lose weight it’s no surprise they are taking those options. The best thing Davis and other plus-sided influencers did for their followers was modeling how to leave this particular fixation behind. Ironically, it’s the one thing many of their followers just don’t want to hear.