Wellness and white power: a fantasy theme analysis of U.S. wellness influencer content and its utilization of white power discourse

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, wellness influencers used far-right ideologies to spread misinformation about health and wellness on social media. Extending the application of symbolic convergence theory (SCT) in this study, I argue that these influencers are an identifiable rhetorical community that utilize white power discourse to facilitate convergence. A fantasy theme analysis of Instagram posts reveals several important fantasy themes. They include mother-as-warrior, where mothers are situated as revolutionary agents against the state, paramilitary wellness, which highlights influencers’ calls for active resistance against health-related government mandates, and homeschooling and homesteading as both forms of resistance and idealized representations of a “well” life. These themes serve as the rhetorical foundations of this community and have several important implications for understanding the proliferation of white power rhetoric in online spaces, including the potential for violence.