Pyramidal prejudices: fatphobia, femininity, & faith in multi-level marketing companies

Abstract: In multi-level marketing companies (MLMs), agents sell products and assemble sales teams, ‘downlines’, from whose sales they receive a commission or bonus. MLMs are controversial because their pyramid distribution model favours few agents who join early. MLMs historically recruit members of religious groups that may endorse restrictive gender roles and body expectations, and many MLMs sell weight-loss, appearance, and wellness products. This presentation draws from the findings of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded study analyzing the intersections of fatphobic, post-feminist, and faith-based discourses in the Instagram postings of a supplement MLM and related implications for women.

Dr. Bombak is a critical weight, health services, and public health scholar whose research critically explores messaging and policy concerning the “obesity epidemic” and the lived experience of weight stigma. She has led qualitative projects on bariatric surgery, body acceptance, post-secondary food education, and understandings of weight and health in Canada and the USA. She is the co-principal investigator of a mixed-method study, which examines the marketing strategies used to sell Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy. The project she is talking about for this talk explores fatphobic, faith-based, and postfeminist (Girlboss) messaging in Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) social media posts.