#Fitspo: Adolescent Girls' and Mother's Narratives on the Impact of Fitspiration via Social Media

Abstract

This research explores adolescent girls’ (age 16 to 17) and mothers of adolescent girls’ (age 15 to 17) storied experiences of viewing, guiding, and communicating about fitspiration on visual-based social media networks. The feminist-narrative research puzzle is, “What are the storied experiences of adolescent girls (age 15 to 17) and mothers of adolescent girls (age 15 to 17) of viewing, guiding, and communicating about fitspiration on visual-based social media?” Five common threads in the four narratives emerged as (1) culture of valuation contingent on appearance; (2) viewing fitspiration resulted in body dissatisfaction; (3) possessing coping resources does not guarantee immunity to body dissatisfaction; (4) mothers recognize impact of fitspiration on daughters; (5) mothers guide through various methods but remain uncertain; (6) alternative body messaging aids in resistance to body ideal influence. A differing thread emerged as (1) mothers differ in fitspo knowledge; (2) mothers differ in communication and regulation intrusiveness.