Body-positive blogger compares 2 photos to make an important point
LONDON -- Instagram is awash with posts about fitness and dieting, with many showing an unrealistic and doctored view of women's bodies.
But, one body-positive blogger posted two photos taken at the same time to make a stand against the body pressures women and girls face on Instagram.
Milly Smith posted a side-by-side photo on Instagram. The photo on the left shows Smith wearing waist-controlling tights pulled up "as high as possible", while the other shows Smith posing with her tights pulled down. "Same girl, same day, same time," wrote Smith on Instagram.
"I am comfortable with my body in both. Neither is more or less worthy. Neither makes me more or less of a human being. Neither invites degrading comments and neither invites sleazy words," Smith continues. Smith writes that many of us don't know what a "real unposed body" looks like and that she has worried that people would find her less attractive after "a 5 second pose switch". "I love taking these, it helps my mind so much with body dysmorphia and helps me rationalise my negative thoughts," writes Smith. Her empowering post has gained over 70,000 likes, and thousands of positive comments.
"This is such a goddamn realtalk," wrote one commenter. "You are AMAZING and such an inspiration!" wrote another. Smith ended her post on an empowering note, telling her followers they are "worthy, valid and powerful beyond measure". "There is no one on this planet who's like you and that's pretty damn amazing don't ya think. The world doesn't need another copy, it needs you," wrote Smith.
Topics Instagram Social Media
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
