Instagram; fat or fiction?
By: Tianne Clarke
Tags: Social Media, Self Worth, Body Positive, Body Image, Instagram

#instagramvsreality

It’s a refreshing hashtag that is breaking down the culture of perfection on Instagram. Users are poking fun at the staged, curated and edited content that can flood our feeds by posting contrasting photos side by side that show a more real side. This hashtag has stretched far and wide, with users exposing their more human side behind the Instagram façades of impeccable bodies, flawless makeup, blissful parenting, perfect food… The list goes on.

Although this hashtag can be quite humorous to search, it’s doing more than just providing some good laughs. #Instagramvsreality has been promoting positive body image and self-love by exposing the unrealistic nature of those thin ‘idealised’ bodies that are scattered across our screens. You know, the small waist lines, the big busts and butts, the sultry poses that are glamorised in the media and across Instagram. These are the same photos that can make some feel inadequate and unworthy when comparisons are drawn between their body and the one in the image’s.

But this is so wrong!

As a 4th year Nutrition Science and Media Communications student I encourage that we should not believe all that we see online. These photos can be so detached from reality that we should not compare our wholesome, real selves against such artificial perfectionism.

Dietician, Lyndi Cohen, agrees with me. She’s a big advocate of accepting and loving your body, and regularly breaks down body image stigmas with her #instagramvsreality posts. Lyndi is authentic, real and raw, promoting health rather than a ‘picture of health.’ She does this by comparing two photos of her body taken within minutes of each other. One shows a flat stomach and an alluring pose, the other shows a more candid Lyndi with stomach rolls.

Her authenticity highlights how Instagram’s culture of perfection has created a curated highlight reel of our lives where photos are posed and manipulated to show our best angles and selves. It fosters a competitive media environment where thin idealised images warp our perception of health and taint our body satisfaction.

Why? Well, the science behind it is quite interesting.

There are a number of theories at play here such as self-schema theory, body discrepancy and social comparison theory. In short, your existing self-esteem influences the way in which you compare yourself against glamorised photos online, which ultimately impacts your level of body satisfaction.

A 2017 study that assessed 273 student’s self-esteem and body satisfaction against their Instagram usage found that those who possessed low self-esteem and insecurities towards their bodies were more likely to fall victim to a negative body image after viewing thin idealised bodies. Those vulnerable and self-conscious of their bodies and who idolised being thin were more likely to draw comparisons and become dissatisfied with the disparities between their body and the idealised body in an image.

Comparatively, a United Kingdom study that assessed 112 university student’s resilience to thin idealised images found that a high self-esteem buffered negative body image effects. Possessing a positive body image and high self-esteem was found to protect against comparison, feelings of inadequacy and body dissatisfaction. The study further found that women were more protected against negative effects when they were aware of the unrealistic tendencies behind thin idealised images.

This is exactly how #instagramvsreality and Lyndi Cohen are fostering positive body image among women. It’s helping to call out the culture of perfection online and highlight its detachment from reality so that women can feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin.

We should never feel inadequate about our bodies. It is so important that we embrace our imperfections and accept and appreciate our bodies to garner the protective effects of a positive body image.