“Fitspiration” on social media: a content analysis of gendered images
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: "Fitspiration" (also known as "fitspo") aims to inspire individuals to exercise and be healthy, but emerging research indicates exposure can negatively impact female body image. Fitspiration is frequently accessed on social media; however, it is currently unclear the degree to which messages about body image and exercise differ by gender of the subject. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to conduct a content analysis to identify the characteristics of fitspiration content posted across social media and whether this differs according to subject gender. METHODS: Content tagged with #fitspo across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr was extracted over a composite 30-minute period. All posts were analyzed by 2 independent coders according to a codebook. RESULTS: Of the 415/476 (87.2%) relevant posts extracted, most posts were on Instagram (360/415, 86.8%). Most posts (308/415, 74.2%) related thematically to exercise, and 81/415 (19.6%) related thematically to food. In total, 151 (36.4%) posts depicted only female subjects and 114/415 (27.5%) depicted only male subjects. Female subjects were typically thin but toned; male subjects were often muscular or hypermuscular. Within the images, female subjects were significantly more likely to be aged under 25 years (P<.001) than the male subjects, to have their full body visible (P=.001), and to have their buttocks emphasized (P<.001). Male subjects were more likely to have their face visible in the post (P=.005) than the female subjects. Female subjects were more likely to be sexualized than the male subjects (P=.002). CONCLUSIONS: Female #fitspo subjects typically adhered to the thin or athletic ideal, and male subjects typically adhered to the muscular ideal. Future research and interventional efforts should consider the potential objectifying messages in fitspiration, as it relates to both female and male body image.
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The muscular ideal is now further extended by hyper muscular male, low adipose bodies in fitspiration content posted on social media.
“It is also now further extended by the hyper muscular male, low adipose bodies in fitspiration content posted on social media (Carrotte et al., 2017; Tiggemann and Zaccardo, 2018).”
From The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness (2022) · cites this paper as Carrotte et al., 2017
The Discussion’s Principal Findings say that male subjects in social-media fitspiration posts were highly muscular and nearly always had visible abdominal muscles. That supports the muscular-ideal description, but the paper does not establish that the subjects had low adiposity; it says male posts placed little emphasis on thinness or weight loss. The Results’ Gendered Analysis rates thinness and muscularity, not body fat. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAppearance ideals are likely promoted on social media through 'thinspiration,' 'fitspiration,' and other highly-edited or influencer-created visual content.
“Appearance ideals are likely promoted on social media through”
From Incorporating social media and muscular ideal internalization into the tripartite influence model of body image: Towards a modern understanding of adolescent girls’ body dissatisfaction (2022) · cites this paper as Carrotte et al., 2017
The Introduction (Overview of Fitspiration) describes thinspiration as promoting thinness, and the Discussion (Principal Findings) reports that social-media fitspiration depicts thin and athletic body ideals. The paper does not establish that the images are highly edited or influencer-created. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIt is unlikely that presenting examples of muscular appearances within the intervention had a considerable effect on upward comparisons, because such content is widespread in society including on social media.
“However, given that such content is widespread in society, including on social media [75], it is unlikely that this would have had a considerable effect.”
The BES was selected to provide a more nuanced measure of body esteem compared to simple VAS, with subscales reflecting key themes associated with fitspiration content.
“The BES was selected to provide a more nuanced measure of body esteem compared to simple visual analogue scales (VAS), with subscales that reflected the key themes associated with fitspiration content (Carrotte et al., 2017).”
From Add a comment … how fitspiration and body positive captions attached to social media images influence the mood and body esteem of young female Instagram users (2020) · cites this paper as Carrotte et al., 2017
The images selected matched content typically found on fitspiration social media feeds.
“A total of 19 images were selected to match content typically found on fitspiration social media feeds (Carrotte et al., 2017).”
From Add a comment … how fitspiration and body positive captions attached to social media images influence the mood and body esteem of young female Instagram users (2020) · cites this paper as Carrotte et al., 2017
20-25% of images on Instagram fitspiration trends are known to be food-related.
“where 20-25% of images are known to be food-related (Carrotte et al., 2017; Deighton-Smith & Bell, 2018).”
From Add a comment … how fitspiration and body positive captions attached to social media images influence the mood and body esteem of young female Instagram users (2020) · cites this paper as Carrotte et al., 2017
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References 27 · Cited by 278
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [10]Prichard I Drummond C Drummond M Tiggemann M Images of inspiration? The effects of viewing different types of #Fitspo images on mood, body image and exercise behaviour 2015 Youth Health Conference 2015 Melbourne, Australia
- [14]McCray J The effects of exposure to images of the male muscular ideal on body image and muscularity concerns in men. Dissertation 2005 Grand Forks The University of North Dakota 1 262
- Authors
- Carrotte, E. R., Prichard, I., & Lim, M. S. C.
- Affiliations
- Burnet Institute (AU)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Carrotte, Elise Rose
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2017-03-29
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e95
- ISSN
- 1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5390113
- OpenAlex
- W2600880961
- Cited by
- 278
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 25.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Burnet Institute
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Keywords
- fitspiration, body image, gender differences, social media, sexualization, objectification, physical activity, thin ideal, muscular ideal, Instagram, food images, female body image
- MeSH terms
- Body Image, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Male, Physical Fitness, Exercise, Social Media
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