Studying Anti-Fatphobia on Instagram: When Data Betray a Feminist Ethic...

Abstract

Approaching the topic from both a feminist, Science and Technology Studies perspectives, this qualitative and quantitative research examines anti-fatphobia and body positivity on Instagram. It delves into how various factors, such as bias, affect, and platform design, influenced the investigative process. The study highlights the methodological and ethical challenges encountered, which ultimately undermined the ethic of care upon which it was built. It examines the interpretations of quantitative and qualitative data, which, being malleable and adaptable, are influenced by various factors such as relational or technical devices, and are continuously redefined. When the data are scrutinized and contextualized, they appear compromising in two ways: they undermine the feminist research approach, and also challenge the feminist principles that are central to the body-positivist movement.