6th January 2020

INSTA VS REALITY: HOW BODY CONFIDENT ARE YOU?

INSTA VS REALITY: HOW BODY CONFIDENT ARE YOU?

As your Self-Care Sister, I am here to help improve our perception and confidence around the issue of ‘Body Confidence’ as part of the building blocks towards wellbeing, starting by diverting our definitions of worth from the futile nature of ‘Outward Appearances’ to the more the more fruitful consideration of a persons values, morals, and character.

 

This week I saw the quote: ‘In the online world, likes and comments seem to act as a currency’ and I couldn’t have related to it more.  I can certainly hold my hands up and say I’ve been guilty of feeling just a TINY bit excited by the number of views or likes I’ve gained- especially as an eager teenager ready to share my experiences with the world! But if you are someone who spends a lot of time on social media, this sort of behaviour can become unhealthy. I believe the sheer access to ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ has caused our generation to become reliant on reassurance, hungry for acceptance and there is a huge fear of being rejected.

 

TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM POLL

Firstly, a big thank-you for your engagement on my social media polls! These polls essentially stem from this week’s question: HOW BODY CONFIDENT ARE YOU?

I asked the below questions and part of me is concerned that I don’t feel shocked by the responses. Many of us are spending each day scrolling through content that does not serve us. On a daily basis we are exposing ourselves to images that are devaluing our self-worth or  stimulating a negative mindset. The use of Instagram has become such an integral part of our lives that we must start by making it a healthier community to be part of.

Until we can learn to love every part of ourselves, sincerely, and accept our imperfections are what makes us who we are, unaffected by the temptation to compare ourselves against unrealistic standards, then I believe we will not be happy on or offline.

Making ourselves look good by putting across an untarnished portrayal of our lives has become a priority in many peoples lives, as we are so afraid of being judged or not conforming to unrealistic beauty standards.

Instead, we should be encouraging the importance of accepting our flaws and being much kinder towards ourselves, starting by limiting the number of images that could actually be subconsciously belittling our self-worth every single day. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not in the number of likes on a picture.

 

CELEBRATING A DECADE OF INSTAGRAM?

Ironically, we have just closed the door on the last decade where we actually saw the birth of Instagram take place, back in January 2010. The function of Instagram originated as a platform to document photography and has revolutionised the social media industry with its ever evolving capabilities. For example, the ‘story’ feature, inspired by Snapchat, has allowed users to give their followers live photo updates. Additionally, one of the more recent and in my view, the most important update, has been the opportunity for Instagram users to post up to 10 photos, (including videos) to our feeds.

Despite these functions becoming more advanced, they have clearly played a large part in normalising the culture of ‘over-sharing’, which I believe is leading us down the worrying path of perfectionism, due to the inevitability of our content being under scrutiny.

 

‘INSTA VS REALITY’ 

‘Insta vs Reality’ is a recent trend on social media which has been great for speaking out against most commonly, ‘Influencers’ and celebrities on Instagram, setting unrealistic body standards online and stimulating our need for perfection. Celebrities like Malin Andersson and Stacey Solomon have used their platforms to speak out against today’s narrow minded perceptions of beauty.

It is arguable that this hunger to conform to the images we see online may, in the short term,  help with confidence and self-esteem.

However, we forget that these images are often perfectly constructed behind the scenes, using professional lighting, camera angles and the use of Photoshop, and this could have dangerous mental health effects in the future: “In the long run if you’re preoccupied with fitting in, it could lead to negative emotion or distress because your identity is tied in with meeting these expectations that are derived from a social norm developed by the media or by a celebrity who we imbue with power”.

The active involvement of celebrities spreading such awareness by posting authentic images has been really refreshing to see.                                                  

This movement is slow and steady progress, but if we make a collective effort like these inspirational ladies, we too can learn to love ourselves first.

Most importantly, we must take the images we choose to view online with ‘a pinch of salt’. Remember, continual attempts at constructing a perfected public perception of ourselves will only lead to long term self-dissatisfaction. Love you, for you!

 

Instagram photo, left: @missmalinsara

Instagram photo, right: @staceysolomon

 

OVERCOMING THE BODY CONFIDENCE BATTLE

 ‘I REALISED THAT SELF-LOVE WAS THE FURTHEST THING FROM VANITY – IT’S SELF-CARE‘.

Hannah Shewan Stevens wrote a piece for the ‘Be Real’ body confidence campaign, a campaign which aims to spread awareness across business, advertising and mass media to choose the portrayal of authentic body image over glorifying unrealistic body standards.

In a desperate attempt to be comfortable in her own skin, suffering  with ‘scleroderma, a rare autoimmune disorder that can affect skin and soft tissue’ she pursued self-love by taking selfies in the hope of feeling genuine self-worth. This only lead to feeling more low and unhappy with her appearance. But, with strength and courage,  Hannah involved herself in projects which related to her disorder, as she states she discovered more about her identity which ultimately enabled her to love herself organically.

By spreading stories like Hannah’s and exposing ourselves to inspirational individuals, we can develop an all-inclusive mentality online and love people for who they are, not what they look like.

TIP OF THE WEEK!

  • Declutter your Instagram and unfollow accounts that bring little value to your lives. Cut out those who trigger you.
  • Follow those who make social media an inclusive place to be. Those who inspire us to be creative, educate and inform. Take action!
  • There are many inspirational advocates of positive body image on social media but this week I would really recommend checking out @i_weigh as her recent #IWILL campaign aims to get people involved with making a positive difference in 2020, stemming from unrealistic body image expectations but spreads into a variety of other social issues too!

I hope I’ve given you some ‘food for thought’ this week! Make sure to follow and let me know your thoughts on TSCS Instagram and Twitter!

All the love,

Your Self-Care Sister,

x

CREDITS

(Freepik) image 4 and feature image: Freepik/<a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/pattern”>Pattern vector created by stockgiu – www.freepik.com</a>

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