What happens when we stop guessing what Gen Z thinks about body sovereignty and actually listen? The Beyond Data and IIBD team conducted a webscraping project, tracking hashtags and tags across TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter to gather a snapshot of what young people are posting, creating, and fighting for around body image, weight surveillance, and diet culture.
Bro, let’s be real: growing up online means your body is never just your body. It’s TikTok filters telling you your nose is wrong, classmates screenshotting your pics, and brands pushing skinny tea ads while calling it 'self-care.' It’s the algorithm feeding you 'what I eat in a day' videos until you wonder if you’re the problem.
Through this digital listening, we captured raw, creative, unstoppable voices demanding change.
'They told us to love ourselves while calling us lazy in health class. I’m tired of pretending BMI is science when it’s just a ruler for worth.' – Maya, 17
'My TikTok is full of glow-ups and calorie counts, but I’m learning that taking up space is revolutionary.' – Jalen, 19
From our digital listening, we saw some share poetry, while others dropped art turning stretch marks into lightning bolts of pride. We saw TikToks calling out diet culture’s lies—like this one and this one—Instagram reels explaining how BMI is being rejected in their schools, and voice notes saying, 'I’m not lazy, I’m living.' Threads were filled with rants about guidance counselors pushing weight loss apps, PE teachers praising weight loss without asking about mental health, and the exhaustion of fighting to feel worthy both in classrooms and in the scroll.
They’re done shrinking for acceptance, done with apps tracking every step, done with parents hiding diet shakes in the fridge, done with silent suffering.
Because body sovereignty isn’t a vibe; it’s a fight. It’s a demand: I decide how I move, eat, and exist, without an app or adult policing me. It’s about rest as resistance, pleasure as power, softness as survival, and taking up space without apology.
Gen Z isn’t just rewriting the narrative—they’re demanding systems change, one post, poem, and protest at a time. If we’re serious about equity, it’s time to listen.
