The Impact of Pamela’s Fitness Content on Xiaohongshu on Women’s Body Anxiety: An Analysis of Visual Narrative and Emotion Mobilization

This study examines how Pamela Reif’s fitness content on Xiaohongshu (RED) influences women’s body anxiety through visual narratives and emotion mobi-lization. Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s theory of the cultural politics of emotion, the paper employs qualitative content analysis of highly engaged image–text posts tagged with “Pamela” to explore how shame, pain, excitement, and ambivalent love/hate circulate within online fitness discourse. Findings reveal that be-fore–and–after photos, quantified weight changes, and body focalization con-struct an idealized “controllable body,” reinforcing the cultural logic of “science + self-discipline = the ideal body.” While such content promotes participation in fitness and fosters community engagement, it also intensifies upward social comparison, self-objectification, and collective shame culture, exacerbating women’s body dissatisfaction and psychological distress. The study highlights both the empowering and harmful dynamics of social media fitness cultures, emphasizing the need for platforms, influencers, and policymakers to promote diverse body representations and media literacy initiatives.