TikTok influencer Sienna Mae has started a movement to assure young girls her age don’t feel that they have to look a certain way. From dancing videos in sweatpants and a hoodie to some with a crop top and bikini, she embraces her body for what it really is. 

Many young girls feel self-conscious seeing influencers and famous models with slim bodies and millions of followers on TikTok. However, there is no such thing as an “ideal” or “perfect” body and every single person is perfect and beautiful in their own way, regardless of how society has portrayed a perfect body to look like. 

“Body positivity on tiktok has been beneficial for everyone including myself. It’s okay to have flaws as long as you can embrace yourself and take the time to understand it is all normal.” Sophomore Giselle Khalil said. 

This may be hard to understand for the younger kids who continuously watch TikTok and don’t know why certain body types get so much attention. In the past few months, 17-year-old TikTok influencer Sienna Mae, gained immense popularity for posting videos that show how angles can fool the camera to make a body look slim. Mae has uploaded videos on the app embracing her body for her 14.5 million fan base, which continues to grow.

At such a young age, she is able to embrace her body and gives her viewers motivation. Body positivity is not seen on the app often but Mae’s dancing videos help boost the confidence of girls her age. In one of her most popular TikToks that gained over 10 million likes, she used an audio she said “Bodies that look like this, also look like this,” which shows how the poses and angles can make a body look different.

Despite negative comments, so many people show overwhelming support for her using her platform in this way. Mae also  makes “Sit down and eat with me” videos where she takes a bite of her favorite snack and encourages the viewer to do so also. She hopes to combat the huge issue of teenage girls that struggle with eating disorders by reminding them to eat, drink water and stay healthy. 

Mae has slowly started to make her mark and get recognized, it is not often that we see young girls empowering other young girls to be confident, happy and healthy. She has even made a clothing brand called Confident Is Cute formed around body positivity and people feeling comfortable in their own skin.

“I would tell my younger self to never compare her appearance to someone who she thinks is “prettier” or “good looking,” sophomore Haya Abu Shah said.

Models come in all different shapes and sizes so beauty should never be judged based on the way a certain celebrity looks. Mae emphasized this in one of her videos for embracing her stomach rolls and not caring about what the negative comments said. Her whole page is centered around confidence and making her viewers feel beautiful. She hopes to start a body positivity movement encouraging everyone to join.
A scale will never measure how beautiful a person is in their own way. Beauty is arbitrary, and comes from within. Weight can and will never determine if someone is “good looking.”  It is important to always remain confident, the new wave of body positivity on the most popular app for teens is helping that happen. 

“If someone you know is trying to put you down because of your appearance, speak up and show them that you’re not an easy target,” Abu Shah said.