Pain, pleasure and postfeminism : an analysis of body-related content on Pinterest

This study examines how Thinspiration, Fitspiration, and Health & Fitness content found on Pinterest vary along axes of source, popularity, and usage of postfeminist visual rhetorical strategies, and the larger social reality this content exists within. It begins with an introduction to Pinterest's unique world, followed by a literature review which examines the key issues and themes surrounding body-related content on Pinterest - namely those of consumption, identity and obsession - and the history these themes have specifically for the young, educated, female demographic that characterizes Pinterest's audience. Additionally, the structure and politics of the site itself are considered as a potential contributing force in the body-related content that was studied. Following this review, the methodology and results of a content-coding analysis are reported, along with a discussion of the results, and potential implications of the aspects that have come to characterize body-related content not only in Pinterest, but also in society at large.