Global | AnyBody Ireland

who we are

Global Teams

AnyBody is an international movement which brings together passionate body image activists from around the world. We aim to promote body positivity, body acceptance and body neutrality and challenge the industries that turn us against our own bodies. We provide a space to question and discuss the barriers to feeling comfortable in our own skin. We campaign to change our culture (both online and in the physical world) so it reflects the variety of body shapes, sizes, colours, abilities, gender identities and ages of people throughout the world.

The global movement is made up of local AnyBody chapters, each working to change how body hatred manifests in their own country while also supporting global campaigns.

Be part of the movement. Dare to enjoy your body!

OUR HISTORY

AnyBody (formerly Endangered Bodies) was launched in 2011 by a series of Endangered Species summits in London, New York, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo and Melbourne. These summits, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, brought together groups and individuals who were working to change the way girls and women felt about their bodies. As outlined in this speech by Susie Orbach at the London summit ‘we want every girl to grow up feeling a matter of fact right to her body, without attack, without self-criticism, without being watchful. We want girls to be able to see their bodies as the place they live from, not a complicated place of fear. We want girls to be able to enjoy their physicality, play with it, be able to dress, to move, to desire, sumptuous and ordinarily. We want girls to be able to enjoy their appetites with relish. Today at this summit, we are insisting that something that is regarded as a personal issue, insecurity and preoccupation about one’s body, be resituated as a serious political, economic and emotional issue’.

The movement has continued to grow with chapters now also in Germany, Ireland and New Zealand. While we initially focussed on girls and women our movement now addresses the impact of body issues on all bodies.

In 2021 all chapters rebranded under the AnyBody name to align globally and avoid confusion as previously some chapters operated under the Endangered Bodies moniker and some under AnyBody.

MISSION AND BELIEFS

Our Mission Statement

We challenge those aspects of culture and industries that turn individuals against their own bodies. We offer alternative ways to live with and enjoy being in our bodies, now and for future generations.

OUR CORE BELIEFS

Respect for the individual identity of all persons as it intersects with size, age, race, culture, gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, class and ability
Commitment to challenge the diet, food, beauty, fitness, fashion, pharmaceutical and entertainment industries who actively profit from promoting body anxiety
Commitment to not criticize individual decisions but aim to raise critical questions around the degree of choice, ownership and participation that individuals have in relation to their bodies in diverse situations

Fat is not a feeling

In March 2015 we declared victory in our global campaign to ask Facebook to remove the body-shaming ‘I Feel Fat’ status options and emoticons. Over 16,000 people agreed that “Fat is not a feeling” and signed our petition. Facebook responded by removing the fat option from their list of emoticons.

The guardian article

Irish times article

#Surgeryisnotagame

At the end of 2018 we declared victory on our global campaign asking Google, Amazon and Apple to ban plastic surgery games aimed at children from their app stores. Over 150,000 people signed our petition and an Apple spokesperson responded by making a public statement against these types of apps. We monitored the app stores for a number of months and while we didn’t get any official communication from Google or Amazon, the cosmetic surgery games aimed at children largely disappeared. We encourage parents of young children to continue to be vigilant about computer games that promote unrealistic beauty ideals, weight stigma or the promotion of cosmetic surgery as a “quick fix”.

Youtube video

CBS News article

Today FM article

Sticker campaigns

Our teams have spread positivity and awareness through stickers distributed at our events and shared with our supporters around the world.

Global Teams

Meet Our Teams

As our global team is made up of various representatives from the local chapters, the best way to get in touch with us is through your nearest local chapter. More information can be found on how to contact each team on their individual websites linked below.