Why Everyone is WRONG About Samyra Miller (and body positivity)

NK's Wrld

The episode examines the polarizing career of influencer Samyra Miller and her impact on the body positivity movement. It details specific c

Key takeaways

• Samyra Miller transitioned from singing covers on TikTok to becoming a central, controversial figure in body positivity.
• The Target controversy highlighted significant gaps in plus-size availability within physical retail stores.

Main topics

• Samyra Miller's career timeline
• Target sizing controversy

Notable quotes

What happens to a movement once the people outside it stop believing it and the people inside it stop agreeing on what it even means?

Conclusion

The episode serves as a critical look at how individual controversies

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Samara Miller is arguably one of the Speaker 2 (0:02) loudest voices in the body positivity movement Speaker 3 (0:04) despite the growing use of weight loss drugs like Speaker 2 (0:07) Ozonpic popping off right now. Speaker 3 (0:09) She has been posting since 2021 and she's grown her follower count to over 2 million people and she's worked with major brands and companies from all over the world. Her page is all about being unapologetically yourself and just being confident while also empowering millions of other women who look like her as well to feel confident, to wear the outfits that she wears and just to not be scared to take up space in rooms that you walk into. But for the last two years, Samara's public perception has honestly changed a lot. Why is there diet culture on the parking meters? Cheesecake Factory's Skinnylicious Speaker 2 (0:41) menu Speaker 3 (0:41) is Speaker 2 (0:41) fat-phobic. Speaker 3 (0:42) Shut the f- Target Speaker 2 (0:44) is slowly Speaker 3 (0:44) removing this plus size section. Every time her name pops up in the blogs or an article or in a TikTok video, people are bashing her. They're saying she's annoying. They're saying that she's doing too much, that she's just so negative all the time. Or Speaker 2 (0:55) they're just straight up body shaming Speaker 3 (0:57) her, just like that. And if you're chronically online, or at least like half, chronically online then i'm sure you have seen some of the controversies surrounding her i mean we had the parking meter incident the target one as well that most recently she had beef with the cheesecake factory skinny licious menu but most notably she has had some beef with cardi b and that is probably the one that you have heard about and 90 of people have already made up their minds about her because of these exact moments i just talked about but i wanted to dive deeper into these controversies rather than just staying on the surface like everyone else is doing because the version of samara that we are seeing on these tiktok clips and the blogs or whatever you want to call it is never the full story body positivity is not in a stable place at all right now everyone's talking about ozempic people are visibly seeing celebrities slim down to Speaker 2 (1:46) unhealthy weights and even runways have quietly gone back to booking almost nothing but one body Speaker 3 (1:52) type and retailers are pulling plus size lines overnight with zero explanation now Speaker 2 (1:56) that one of my favorite denim brands is probably no longer going to be making plus sizes body Speaker 3 (2:01) positivity is losing the power that it once had and you've got samara one of the loudest voices who can't seem to agree with herself on what actually counts as a fight worth having so today we are going to go through the whole timeline where samara actually came from her impact on social media, her very public fights, and what it all costs a movement that genuinely cannot afford to lose anyone else still willing to listen. Body Speaker 2 (2:24) positivity is toxic. So Speaker 3 (2:26) by the end of today's episode, you will be able to answer this question. What happens to a movement once the people outside it stop believing it and the people inside it stop agreeing on what it even means? Let's get into it. Yeah. Speaker 3 (2:45) I'm NK and this podcast is your go-to space for honest conversations about beauty culture and the lives of modern women. If you aren't that make sure to subscribe, follow, rate 5 stars on Apple, Spotify, you know, I know you're listening there so you better rate 5 stars period. Anyways, let's keep on going with today's episode. Part 1. The Rise of Samara Miller. Okay, so before we start make sure y'all keep it cute in the comments. Usually guys are respectful but you know sometimes there's people out there who do too much so no fatphobia. Thank you very much. And if you need a definition fatphobia is the social bias, discrimination, or irrational aversion directed against people who are overweight or have a larger body. So just to make sure we're all on the same page, period, now let's begin. Okay, so Samara Miller was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 8th, 1998, making her 28 years old at the time of this video. When you think of a body positivity influencer, you think of someone who was insecure growing up, that they were uncomfortable in their skin, that people would make fun of them all the time. And basically overall, they were just insecure. But over time, they realized that they were beautiful and they became more confident. And then boom, they became like a celebrity or influencer. And now they are trying to encourage other women to love the way they look, despite the beauty standards that we got going on right now. But that is not Samara's story at all. Samara was, and still is to this day, very confident in herself, especially the way she portrays herself online. You can tell that she's always been this way. But I mean, these words have come out of her mouth that she was not insecure. She was a go-getter and, you know, she was just like a baddie, basically. Like she was not insecure. about her body growing up which could be a factor as to why so many people do not like her and they have strong opinions about her she credits new orleans with the way that she carries herself to this day she said that the culture over there is authentic and freeing and that you don't need anyone's permission to show up as you are which makes me want to visit new orleans now like if y'all live there if y'all know anything about it or you have visited let me know because i love a place that's full of culture full of vibes and people are just having a good time so let a girl know period poo Speaker 3 (4:43) Samara is not only an influencer, but she is also a Harvard grad, which if you go on her Instagram or her TikTok, you gonna see it right there. Cause she does not hesitate to say that it's in her bio. So I think it says like your favorite Harvard grad or something. like that but either way she went to harvard so i mean she's very very smart and while she was there she studied sociology in 2021 she graduated from harvard but we were still in the middle of a pandemic a panini whatever you want to call it i think i can say the word pandemic now because for the longest time people were avoiding saying it because they said youtube kept flagging it so girl i don't know i'm gonna say it today hopefully they don't flag this video but yeah we were still in the middle of the pandemic like things went off cute it was 2021 and i think the pandemic really popped off 2020 but the end of 2019 that's when it started happening so wow i can't I believe it's like six years ago since it's happened. It's actually crazy how fast time moves by. Like, oh my God. But anyways, the jobs were limited because people were inside. A lot of businesses had to shut down and only the essential businesses could be up and running. So the time that Samara graduated was just not giving. So she decided to go back home. But during the pandemic, a lot of us were eating more, sleeping more, watching TV more, or maybe on social media and others were creating content. And Samara was doing just that. creating content if that wasn't clear enough. But Samira did not actually start as a body positive influencer. She started posting singing covers in 2021 on TikTok after a friend suggested it. Technically she started actually posting back in 2020 but it was like random videos like it was the videos you would post on TikTok like dancing videos, skits. comedy stuff, things like that. And even back in 2020, you could tell how big of a personality she had. Like she was very outspoken, the facial expressions, everything. Like you can tell, like she likes to entertain. She likes to make people laugh. Like she's just very out there, if that makes sense. It's Speaker 2 (6:27) time to make our showers more intense. We shouldn't look our stomach up. Speaker 2 (6:34) So Speaker 3 (6:35) as I said before, Samara's friend suggested that she should post her singing covers to TikTok because Samara actually has a really good voice. And I did choir and I also got vocal lessons back in the day for a bit. I know a little bit about singing. I know like a little one-two-one-two. I know what a good voice sounds like and a bad one sounds like. But anyways, let me not get off track. But honestly, Samara, she has a really good, strong, powerful voice. Very resonant. Like, it's really good. And to this day, she still sings. And I think she is trying to make music. Like she's made some, what do you call it? Like covers, whatever you want to call it. But she is still seen as like an influencer before a singer. And one detail that I want to mention real quick, because I feel like it paints the picture of how Samara has always been, is that when she was a teenager, she attended Willow School. And she became the first girl on the school's football team playing defensive tackle. I know her father also played football too. So I guess she was like following in his footsteps. So shout out to her. But I feel like this just shows you her personality. and how she's always pushing forward and she's always, what's the word? Like she's always been the type of person to push her way into spaces that did not make room for her in the first place. And she's been doing this since she was young. So it makes sense why she's so confident right now in herself, which is great. I mean, like, honestly, that's how you live a fulfilling life by constantly pushing your way into spaces, who obviously depends on what spaces, but just to be confident to keep pushing forward and to not back down, you know, you'll live a very fulfilling life that way. Sometimes, obviously context matters, but you know what I mean? Okay, but back to 2021. So Samara was posting her TikTok covers and she was just thinking, you know, getting some views, getting some likes, growing her following that way. But her content did not shift until she started getting some very rude comments about her appearance. People would tell her things like, Tiana's not plus size, you will never be Tiana. And they're talking about Disney's Princess and the Frog. That movie came out in like, what, 2009, I think? 2010-ish? It was definitely a cute movie, loved it. I think that was Disney's first black princess, so shout out to that. But people were basically mocking her. I think she was c***. covering songs from the movie and they're like, yeah, girl, you're never gonna be her because you're too big to be her. Yeah, people just be rude for no reason, but I'm not surprised this is the internet. But Speaker 2 (8:31) after reading those comments, Speaker 3 (8:32) it did not make Samara want to hide or stop posting altogether. It actually ignited something in her. Speaker 2 (8:37) Okay, Tiana aside. This is why we need better fat representation in the entertainment industry, specifically in television and film. Speaker 3 (8:45) And she turned it into a mission statement. And she decided to keep on posting herself even more, not just the singing covers. She was basically saying that if she can be in the mission statement, then she can also be in the size chart. Because you know what? Body positivity was at the ultimate high and all the brands are marketing to people and they're like, oh my God, we are so size inclusive. We are so body positive. Like make sure you buy our stuff. And the way they would market it, they would have plus size. ladies on the front cover posing, doing whatever, wearing revealing clothing to show that they are body positive. But then when you look at the sizing, it just told a different story. So Samara was like, yeah, if I'm going to be in the marketing, if I'm going to be the mission statement and make sure you actually have sizes that fit me. She's Speaker 2 (9:23) also talked Speaker 3 (9:24) about working retail back in the day when she used to work at the mall. And she said that she was always the one stuck with the shifts that put her in the back of the store. And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly where the plus size clothes always ended up too. Pretty much tucked away where nobody walking in was actually going to see them same as her they kind of just put her in the back and she said that's the moment that it clicked for her that she wanted to be seen not hidden she did not feel insecure she wanted to be seen she wanted to be out there and you can trace almost every video she's made since back to that exact memory samara does not behave as someone who is insecure she wants to be seen she's not scared to voice her opinions and that just makes her like a baddie like period like as you should but The issue is that when you are so confident, so opinionated as a woman, people are already not going Speaker 2 (10:07) to like that. But especially if you are plus size, people are definitely not going to like that. Speaker 3 (10:11) But something that I've noticed with Samara's content is that her actual critique isn't really aimed at people who don't understand fat bodies. It's aimed at the movement that's supposed to represent her. She's called modern body positivity, fat phobia repackaged as more of a lighthearted thing. Arguing that it centers thinner people, showing off a little bit of bloat and calling it revolution. while actual fatness still gets left out of the conversation entirely. I talked about this a bit in my previous video, so definitely check that out. That was about Lizzo, but I definitely do agree with this. The body positivity movement, especially on TikTok, the people who became the faces of it, they were not big at all. I Speaker 2 (10:46) will say that they did do a good job at normalizing a normal body, Speaker 3 (10:50) like cool, but in the end of the day, the body positivity movement was meant for bigger people, for fat people. And the people who were taking over the movement on TikTok, they would have to like, contort their bodies in crazy ways just to show that they had some belly fat or some rolls or cellulite or whatever you want to call it. And while their videos were very important and I'm sure it has helped millions of girls out there. I even see comments to this day of people talking about it and they reference these creators and they're like, yeah, she made me feel so confident. I'm happy that I watched her videos because yes, like there's a lot of people who are like midsize and the media tries to make them. feel like they are fat or too big or whatever so it's definitely important to have those type of videos out there but They really took a movement that was not made for them. They made themselves the faces of it. Actually, I guess we can say the algorithm made them the faces of it. And I think it's just because the West, they are fatphobic, like period. Like the country we live in is fatphobic. They do not like fat people. So there was no way that they were going to make actual fat people the face of the movement online because it's Speaker 2 (11:50) not aesthetic enough for them. And Speaker 3 (11:51) when I think of influencers, I think of Spencer Barboso. I forget, but she makes great content. Like she's very bubbly and I'm sure she has helped millions of girls. out there and also Sienna Mae Gomez too. They posted a lot of body positivity content. I don't think Sienna posts as much like I think her content has shifted but Spencer she definitely still posts her body positive content so shout out to them. They both you know slayed but I'm just saying like okay the movement was not made for people who look like them but they ended up becoming the faces of it and I went into depth in my previous video about who the movement's for and like how it came to be so definitely watch that if you want more context into what Speaker 2 (12:27) I'm talking about. Okay so Samara she She kept posting Speaker 3 (12:30) her content, she was doing her thing. She would post her singing videos still, but she also posted trolling videos and she would reply to comments as well because people would call her fat. There was one comment about Disney, I believe someone was saying that, I didn't know Disney made a movie about fat people or something like that. And she copped back and then there's another video where she's replying to someone else who said that, how do you walk around with all that weight? To this day, people still body shammer, but they Speaker 2 (12:52) were body shammer back then and she would clap back instead of hiding or retreating or not posting any content. So Speaker 3 (12:57) because of our personality, her good voice and just her confidence she was able to grow her page a lot of people were just in awe of seeing someone like her so confident and mind you this was like 2021 so body positivity was still like popping as a movement i feel like it really died down in 2023 i would say yeah 2023 definitely 2024 i don't think it was really popping like that anymore but up until 2024 smara was pretty much chilling doing her thing she was doing well with content creation but that's when public perception of her started to shift Speaker 3 (13:27) Okay, so this was the first incident where people were just not on her side plainly like I actually expected more people to side with her But they were just like nope girl. You're annoying f off. So let me just explain So samara was in a target just doing her thang shopping for stuff But then she stopped at a clothing rack that had a jacket on it with a style tip that was printed on the tag Which said to size up for a chic fit like, you know some clothes when you're buying stuff They might tell you to size up if the sizes run small or they'll tell you to size down just like just depending on what's style you want. If you want it to be oversized, if you want it to fit tight, they'll tell you, okay, size up, size down. And that's what this particular jacket brand was doing. However, there was an issue because the biggest size was an XL or an XXL. So if you are an XL or XXL, you can't really go up two sizes because there's nothing for you to... you know use and that was samara's issue she filmed the whole thing and captioned it target has lost their last mind and she walked straight up to the sign and asked the camera go two sizes up from an xxl then she said if you are going to suggest people size up at least carry the sizes in store not just online and she was just going straight to target's neck she was not holding back she was just clapping back because that's how she talks like she's very like to the point she will not sugarcoat it she will not try to say it nicely she will just say it Speaker 2 (15:04) also in store. Now how it's meant to be said. Speaker 3 (15:05) I don't know who told y'all that was a good idea but y'all need to either fix that sign or fix your sizes. Hopefully both. But people did not agree with her at all. At all. The most liked comment on that video was simply, I have a better idea. Get healthy. And right underneath that comment was another one telling her that very few people are built like her and that the market moves corporations not feelings. Basically saying like your demographic they are not large enough