Influence with Intention: Plus Sized Instagram Models and the Politics of Visibility

How Black Women are challenging beauty ideals

The digital sphere, notably Instagram, has birthed a vibrant movement: plus‑size Black women are emerging not just as fashion influencers but as powerful agents of representation, rewriting beauty norms with courage and creativity. Before hashtags defined the era, trailblazers like Mia Amber Davis, Gabi Fresh, and Chastity Garner Valentine were already forging the path—bringing plus‑size beauty into view, creating authentic communities, and igniting style revolutions on Instagram feeds. Now influencers such as Kelly Augustine, Musemo Handahu, Lauren‑Nicole, Alissa Wilson, Simi, and Ireanna are seen as more than content creators—they’re culture makers. Their daring fashion, relentless empowerment, and visible self-love redefine societal perceptions of beauty.

Today we talk with Dr. Regina Duthely whose research looks at how Black plus-size fashion influencers—from bloggers to Instagram trailblazers—shake the very foundations of mainstream beauty ideals. Traditional paradigms have historically centered on bodies that are thin, White, cisgender, and able-bodied. But Duthely shows how these and other plus sized influencers are reclaiming power through what she calls embodied rhetorical acts—vividly visual, self-fashioned acts that challenge narrow definitions of beauty and participate in liberated self-making.

Dr. Duthely is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She specializes in Black feminist rhetorics, African American rhetorics, and multimodal composition and rhetoric. Her research examines the ways that marginalized people, particularly Black women, engage in subversive rhetorics of protest and resistance.

To learn more about Dr. Duthely, click here.

More Works by Dr. Duthely:

• Plus-Size Fashion Influencers and Disruptive Black Bodies

• Black Feminist Hip-Hop Rhetorics and the Digital Public Sphere

• Hip-Hop Rhetoric and Multimodal Digital Writing

Season 3 Episode 2

Running Time:  TBD minutes