Instagram as a bodily technology: The relation between bodies, images and technology in Feminist activism and pro-ana communities

The purpose of this article is to explore the relation between bodies and images in the context of a platformed sociality (van Dijck 2013). The article zooms in on two distinct ways bodies come into being on the image sharing platform Instagram. Through the study feminist activism and pro-ana communities, the article argues that the two cases represent two essential ways of using social media which either emphasizes or diminishes the individual user. Further, the article will show how the affordances of Instagram allow the two user types, feminist activists and the pro ana users, to engage in digital publics through different modes of participation: The feminist activists insist on being visible through their personal profile. They are acknowledged and empowered through visibility. On the other hand, pro-ana users are stretched out between their desire to display imagery of (their) thin bodies and to remain anonymous.

The theoretical inspirations in this article are twofold. First, I will approach the imagery from Instagram through a visual (and aesthetic) lens applying the concept of feminist spectatorship (Dole, 1991; 2013) and (fe)male gaze (Mulvey, 1976) when exploring the becoming of bodies (Coleman 2009). Further I will take on a more structural approach focusing on the infrastructure and on the affordances (Bucher & Helmond, 2018) of Instagram. I will discuss the implications of the different sharing and distribution practices on Instagram and how the platform sharing politics manifests themselves in different becomings of bodies.