Body Image in Social Media#
The following sample analysis is based on a dataset collected by MA Digital Cultures student Caroline Déharbe during the 2024/2025 academic year and reuses the academic literature and theoretical approaches from Caroline’s original essay. It demonstrates how Voyant Tools can be used to analyze societal discussions around beauty standards, gender roles, and cultural expectations in podcast reviews.
Possible theoretical approaches#
These analytical lenses can be linked to the three key theories that we discuss in the MA Digital Cultures course Machines of Knowledge at Maastricht University:
Feminist Theory examines women-led critiques of beauty standards, gendered communication patterns, and the impact of content creators’ (intersectional) identities on audience reactions.
Postcolonial Theory explores cultural and racial dimensions of body image discussions and can us help consider how marginalized voices engage with global perspectives.
Public Sphere theory is another possible approach and can draw your attention to how media such as podcasts create participatory spaces and contribute to (political) opinion-making. You can, for example, explore whether reviews and comments reflect a shift toward inclusive and democratic conversations, and if the users are empowered to take collective action offline.
Caroline focused on data feminism in her own analysis, but different approaches to the same data would have been possible.
A Feminist Analysis of Themes in Anti-Diet Culture Podcast Reviews#
Introduction: the ubiquity of diet culture#
Diet culture, a societal trend that promotes prescribed diets, weight loss, and rigid body ideals, has become a frequent topic in public discourse. Often framed as a women’s health issue (Jovanovski & Jaeger, 2022), its impact extends across ages and genders. In different cultural settings, exposure to diet culture online contributes to body image insecurities and disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Jacob & Panwar (2023) surveyed an Indian population and found considerable impact of social media usage on eating habits and appearance confidence, with certain gender and age differences in areas like snacking and convenience behaviors, social dependence, height dissatisfaction, or fitness evaluation. As digital platforms promote dieting advice by experts and non-expert influencers alike, podcasts such as I Weigh with Jameela Jamil and Maintenance Phase have become spaces for critique and anti-diet activism. These podcasts, hosted by experts, activists, or individuals affected by diet culture, use science and personal narratives to engage international audiences.
Unlike social media platforms (e.g., Instagram’s #womenswellness, as studied by Tiusanen, 2023), podcasts typically offer longer, structured content without immediate audience interaction. Apple Store reviews, however, allow listeners to reflect on the podcast as a whole. This essay explores in how far the podcast reviewers have called out systemic issues like gender inequality, racism, and capitalism as the core challenges of diet culture, and what they propose to counter them. For this approach, data feminism (D’Ignazio & Klein, 2020) provides a suitable framework.
Data selection and data collection#
From the many podcasts opposing diet culture available on the Apple app store, I have selected ten English-language podcasts for this analysis. English-language shows have listeners from all over the world and receive more reviews than podcasts in other languages. Also, I have deliberately combined shows from different types of content creators: While some podcasts are hosted by celebrities, others are made by healthcare professionals, which will ideally also result in a broad range of opinions voiced in the comments.
Body Kindness is hosted by a dietitian and physiologist, who focus on reframing health away from strict dieting. Similarly, In Bad Taste is hosted by a nutritionist and surgeon, who critique health documentaries. Life After Diets features a health coach and psychotherapist addressing dieting’s shortcomings. Other podcasts are made by non-experts and often have a stronger entertainment component. These include Fad Camp, a comedic take on fad diets, Food, We Need To Talk, Maintenance Phase, and I Weigh with Jameela Jamil, a podcast hosted by actress and activist Jameela Jamil. Last but not least, I have included three podcasts by self-identified victims of weight discrimination and societal pressure, namely Rebel Eaters Club, We Can Do Hard Things, and Weight For It, a “fat man’s” perspective on weight and diet.
The comments for these podcasts were scaped with the Python script provided in the MA Digital Cultures course and make up my final dataset of over 5,500 reviews. This data set is large enough for both quantitative insights (word frequencies) and qualitative close reading (contextualizing terms).
Methodology: Distant and close reading with Voyant#
The analysis will consist in a combination of distant and close reading using Voyant Tools. For a more quantitative analysis, I will use the trends graph (Figure 1) to reveal relative frequencies of key terms in my data set. However, algorithms may miss linguistic nuances such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE), as noted by Risam, 2016. This is why I will also make use of the contexts tables (Figures 2 to 5) that show me words in their original reviews and help me to better interpret sentiment and intent.
Data Analysis#
Recurring themes in the joint dataset#
[WORD CLOUD / FREQUENCY TABLES: what is the ratio between individual effort and social dimensions??]
The first structural challenge: gendered expectations#
The analysis of podcast reviews reveals distinct patterns in how listeners engage with discussions of gender issues. Patriarchy was explicitly mentioned twelve times across the reviews of only two podcasts, I Weigh with Jameela Jamil and We Can Do Hard Things. While the majority of these mentions expressed appreciation for the podcasts’ critical discussions of patriarchal structures, two reviews criticized the approach. One listener noted that the host of I Weigh repeatedly addressed the topic but missed out on others. Another reviewer disagreed with the framing of patriarchy as a negative force in society…
[ANYTHING ELSE ON WOMEN OR FEMALE?]
The second structural challenge: racial steoreotyping#
The theme of racism was more frequently and even more controversially addressed. Some listeners praised the podcasts for addressing racial diversity and fostering inclusive conversations. For instance, reviews highlighted how discussions on race helped them reflect on their own biases or societal expectations. However, other reviews accused the hosts or guests of harboring racist undertones. Among these, three reviews pointed to racism directed at non-white individuals, two mentioned perceived racism against white people (also described as “reseved racism”), and one remained ambiguous in its accusation. Additionally, three reviews referenced racism in contexts unrelated to the podcasts themselves, such as broader societal issues.
The third structural challenge: capitalism#
Capitalism was another recurring theme. Some reviews commended the hosts and guests for shedding light on how capitalist structures influence body image and self-worth. Others used the space to reflect on their own relationship with capitalism. …. expressed a newfound awareness of its impact on their lives: [QUOTE] … reviews criticized the podcasts’ approach to the topic, either for being too superficial or for not addressing it sufficiently.
Discussion: Podcasts as spaces of commercialization critique#
The analysis revealed that capitalism and commericalization were the structural challenge most often mentioned across the different podcast. Gender and race were addressed to a lesser degree??
At the same time, the social dimension of resistance was evident in the reviews. Listeners described how the podcasts encouraged them to address systemic issues in their personal relationships, whether by setting boundaries or engaging in conversations about diet culture with friends and family.
The role of digital spaces like podcasts in fostering critical conversations about diet culture has also been confirmed in other research. Pope and Rose (2024), for example, demonstrate how public figures like Taylor Swift, through openness about personal struggles with body image and disordered eating, can normalize resistance to diet culture. Similarly, the hosts and guests of the podcasts analyzed in this study provided listeners with a sense of validation and community. Many reviewers explicitly stated that the podcasts made them feel “seen” and “heard”. Jovanovski et al. (2024) even found that exposure to lived experiences can even influence the practices of healthcare professionals.
Limitations#
This essay is not without limitations. One significant constraint is the platform bias as the analysis was limited to Apple Store reviews, which may not be representative of the entire audience for these podcasts. Different platforms, such as Spotify or Google Podcasts, might attract distinct demographic groups, which could not be analyzed here.
Another limitation lies in the algorithmic blind spots of tools like Voyant. The contextual ambiguity of certain terms like “white” and “black” is one example. They may not always refer to race, and I have used the contexts tools to very their usage, but errors may still occur. Similarly, terms like “dominance” could apply to any of the systemic issues (patriarchy, racism, capitalism), leading to potential misclassifications.
Conclusion#
This essay showed that many listeners of diet culture podcasts see them as important platforms for critical conversations and for creating a sense of collective resistance. In my dataset, resistance to the commericialisation of health was the most dominant theme brought up by reviewers. Future research could expand on these findings in several ways. Comparing reviews across multiple platforms, such as Spotify and Google Podcasts, and including content in several languages could offer a more comprehensive view of listener perspectives.
References#
D’ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data Feminism. MIT Press. https://data-feminism.mitpress.mit.edu/
Earhart, A. E. (2015). Data and the Fragmented Text: Tools, Visualization, and Datamining or Is Bigger Better? In Traces of the Old, Uses of the New (pp. 90-116). University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv65swvf.8
Jacob, J. S., & Panwar, N. (2023). Effect of age and gender on dietary patterns, mindful eating, body image and confidence. BMC Psychology, 11(1), 264. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01290-4
Jaeger, T., & Jovanovski, N. (2024). “People need to be valued because of who they are”: Self-conception and strategies of resistance in women who challenge weight-loss diet culture. Feminism & Psychology, 34(4), 519-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593535241233839
Jovanovski, N., & Jaeger, T. (2022). Demystifying ‘diet culture’: Exploring the meaning of diet culture in online ‘anti-diet’ feminist, fat activist, and health professional communities. Women’s Studies International Forum, 90, 102558. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102558
Jovanovski, N., Jaeger, T., McDougall, R., & Keogh, L. (2024). Gut feelings and lived experiences: a qualitative study of ‘anti-diet’ dietitians’ and psychologists’ motivations and experiences regarding the weight-neutral approach. Health Sociology Review, 33(3), 273-288. https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2023.2248080
Pope, L., & Rose, K. L. (2024). “It’s All Just F*cking Impossible:” The influence of Taylor Swift on fans’ body image, disordered eating, and rejection of diet culture. Social Science & Medicine, 355, 117100. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117100
Risam, R. (2016). Navigating the Global Digital Humanities: Insights from Black Feminism. In L. F. K. Matthew K. Gold (Ed.), Debates in the Digital Humanities 2016. University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5749/9781452963761
Tiusanen, K. (2023). Feeling grateful, kind, and empowered: rules of feeling in Instagram’s #womenswellness digital intimate public. Feminist Media Studies, 23(8), 3687-3704. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2135122
List of Figures#
Figure 1: Trends graph of relative frequencies for terms such as patriarch*, raci*, and capitalis*.
Figure 2: Contexts table illustrating the usage of the term “patriarchy” in podcast reviews.
Figure 3: Contexts table showing the occurrences of the term “race” and the surrounding discussions.
Figure 4: Contexts table for mentions of “racism,” including expanded reviews expressing dissatisfaction.
Figure 5: Contexts table for the term “capitalism,” highlighting how listeners engage with its role in diet culture.