If you’ve ever looked at a photo of someone on Instagram, taken in their taut belly and then felt terrible about yourself, you’re not alone. Why else would so many of us be on diets, spend hours working out past the brink of exhaustion, or, sadly, buying the supplements that our Insta-fitness gurus are constantly trying to sell us? Comparisons are painful and disheartening, but we all know exactly what we’re falling for when we click that heart icon and then lay back on our beds wondering why we weren’t blessed with the genes that would make Superman just a teensy bit jealous.
Except, as we all know, what happens on Instagram is also often complete and utter bullshit. Camera angles, lighting, and even good old photoshop make us believe what we’re seeing is perfection, when it’s actually anything but. That myth was called out last year by Essena O’Neill, a model who went through all her photos and re-captioned them with truthful accounts of what she went through to get that effortless look (often hours of selfies at a time), and it’s being called out again by fitness instructor Anna Victoria, who’s got more than one million followers on the photo-sharing site and has made a career out of being #goals.
In a recently posted photo, Anna Victoria presented two images of herself side by side. One, an immaculately posed selfie showed off her “perfect” body; the other, a picture of the model in the same outfit, showed the reality of what “good angles” can do.
This isn’t the first time that Anna Victoria has posted such a picture. Amongst the many shots comprising her Insta — many of them in a signature “pull the waistband down a little to show off the tummy” pose — there’s a four week old photo of her lounging without hair and makeup, her usually superhuman physique looking more attainable than ever.
In the caption, Anna Victoria writes that her reason for posting the picture isn’t a selfish one. As someone who’s seen as the peak of fitness, she also has a responsibility to her followers. And when one sent her a message describing the issues she’s developing from seeing perfect pose after perfect pose, the fitness guru had to speak out:
I’m sharing this because I just received an email from a 16 year old girl that said I am the only person she follows that actually made her feel good about herself. That even though she’s not particularly unhappy with her body, that seeing endless perfect photos started to make herself compare, poke and prod at her own body. The impact social media has on young girls and their self-esteem is an issue I feel very strongly about and if me posting one casual, non-posing, non-done up photo can help a young girl (or man, or anyone of any age!) feel better about themselves, then I’m happy to put myself out there.
Powerful! Brave! Important! I know all of us were waiting for the moment that I could use these adjectives to describe what Anna Victoria’s done here. But even if her pictures aren’t what’s going to turn the tide on our society’s obsession with bodily perfection — even though we all know such a thing is not possible — they’re a good reminder that even those we revere for their physical beauty struggle with the same issues the rest of us do. Enjoy the photos, but don’t believe the hype.
(H/T: Bro Bible)
