“You Are Not Fat”: The Postfeminist Contradiction in #RejectBodyAnxiety—A Computationally Assisted Critical Thematic Analysis
2026-02-13
Digital platforms have facilitated body-positive discourses that challenge appearance norms, yet these often intertwine with postfeminist elements, creating paradoxes that both resist and reinforce hegemonic ideals. By deploying computationally assisted critical thematic analysis across 1915 #RejectBodyAnxiety posts on RedNote, this study reveals both the breadth —the full variety of user-generated discursive elements and their articulation patterns—and the depth —the discursive meanings configured through these articulations, of this feminist digital activism site. The findings show that body-positivity discourses under #RejectBodyAnxiety are profoundly reconfigured through their articulation with localized postfeminist formations and platform-mediated empowering mechanisms, reframing body positivity as ideal positivity —a postfeminist discourse that refines hegemonic beauty ideals by shedding their extreme traits ( Selective Subversion ) and making them appear attainable ( Tactical Conformity ), thereby transforming them into seemingly positive forms. While fostering empowerment, this discourse risks new exclusions, marginalizing some women and intensifying postfeminist contradictions. Tracing these sensibilities through social media, the study highlights their new forms in non-Western contexts and underscores the need to address emerging discourses in body image promotion.