Pilates, power, and the politics of the feed

“Pilates is just about long, lean limbs and a better core,” they said. “Slang is just internet fun,” they said. But as always: nothing online is just anything.

In today’s algorithm-driven world, aesthetics are ideology. Memes are vectors. And trends are Trojan horses for culture wars, quietly reshaping what we buy, how we behave, and who we become. It's all happening one “Pilates arm” or “high-value woman” reel at a time.

This isn’t a tinfoil-hat conspiracy. It’s the reality of the internet in 2025: subcultures spread through style. And if you're a marketer, brand strategist, or content creator, you’re not just selling products - you’re selling meaning. So, let’s talk about what’s hitching a ride in your messaging.

Aesthetics are never apolitical.

Let’s start with the rise of the Pilates body. Soft, slim and sculpted. She floats through TikTok in aloe sets and drinks matcha with marine collagen. She’s calm, controlled and curated af. And she’s very much in. As for her mirror opposite, strength training, curves, and "thicc girl summer"? Notably out. That’s no coincidence, in fact it’s a pattern we’ve seen before. Historically, the body ideal contracts when the world gets politically conservative.

Think about it: the 1950s = post-war domesticity + wasp waists. The early 2000s = post-9/11 control + heroine chic Now? We’re once again in an era of rising authoritarianism, economic anxiety, and restriction. Cue the small, contained, “disciplined” body.

Pilates isn’t inherently political. But the trend toward smallness, especially when paired with traditional femininity and “clean girl” aesthetics, reflects a longing for order, safety, and control. Which, if you squint, is also the emotional terrain of a lot of modern reactionary politics.

Now let’s pivot to a very different corner of the internet: 4chan, Reddit, and the incel-verse.

Yes, the one filled with rage-posting basement dwellers yelling about "Stacys" and "Chads". But here’s the twist: their ideas have gone mainstream… and they did it without algorithmic support.

Because incel forums are too toxic for most platforms, their influence didn’t spread through standard recommendation engines. It spread through memes. Through irony. Through TikToks that toe the line between parody and endorsement. Through jokes people didn’t realise were quoting actual hate groups.

You’ve probably heard or seen:

• “High-value woman”

• “Body count” discourse

• “Alpha/beta male” hierarchies

• “Cope,” “femcel,” “looksmaxxing,” “sigma grindset”

These aren't just edgy buzzwords. They’re pieces of ideology, repackaged in language that sounds catchy, punchy, and scrollable. The more we use them, the more we normalise their worldview, even if we don’t mean to.

Here’s where it gets especially spicy: there’s overlap.

The rise of the “Pilates girlie” dovetails with another trend: the “tradwife” aesthetic. Think 1950s femininity, soft-core submission, and an Instagram filter over domestic labour. Suddenly, womanhood is about being tiny, tidy, and tame. Even as these trends present as self-care or empowerment, they’re often entangled with:

• A rejection of loud feminism

• A celebration of “traditional roles”

• An emphasis on aesthetic over autonomy

And brands are capitalizing on it, many pushing a product promising quiet, slim, graceful, and obedient without realising it. Whether it's an app, a diet tea, or a set of pink dumbbells, you might just be echoing a value system that shrinks more than your waistline.

So, wtf do marketers do with this?

Breathe. You don’t need to throw your whole strategy out the window. But you do need to start looking at trends with x-ray vision. Ask yourself:

• Where did this language come from? If your copywriter pulls a TikTok phrase: check its origin. “High-value” didn’t come from nowhere.

• What does this aesthetic signal? If your campaign leans into minimalism or “clean girl", think about what that might mean beyond the surface.

• Who benefits from this trend? Are you empowering your audience? Or subtly reinforcing the systems that shrink them?

• Can I subvert instead of follow? Maybe your Pilates content can celebrate strength and softness. Maybe your dating app ad can use viral language, but flip the script.

Look, you’re not responsible for all of culture.

But you sure as hell are contributing to it. When memes carry ideology, and aesthetics carry politics, the line between trend and worldview gets blurry fast. And as a marketer, you walk that line every day. That doesn’t mean avoiding anything that could be problematic. It means getting smarter about the signals you send. So yes, Pilates is political. Incel language has infected the internet. And your next campaign could either unknowingly amplify those forces, or gently, artfully, question them.

Choose wisely. Your audience already is.

-Sophie Randell, Writer