Seeing Doesn't Mean Believing
This one is a little scary to write, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise for one second.
My job is, in a big way, based around how I look; for better or worse (and I certainly lean towards “worse”) people looking for a personal trainer lean towards someone who looks the part, even though their training and credentials might not be as good as someone who isn’t super muscular. Size and weight are only part of a person’s overall health—one of my good friends, for instance, is an avid (read: crazy) runner who completed one half-marathon every month last year and topped it all off with a full marathon. She’s a beast. But that doesn’t stop people from giving her unsolicited options about her weight. My friend’s BMI will probably always be higher than mine, but she’s fit as hell and could thoroughly kick my ass in a race any day of the week.
This thinking that appearance = health is a problem for many complicated reasons, but it’s even more damaging, I think, when used on social media. Companies who shall remain nameless (rhymes with Lakemology and Bit-Quirks) use before and after photos to show you how much better your life and health can be if you just buy their products (and sell the products, then recruit your friends and family to sell the products, but I digress). A heavy, miserable woman is shown—because it’s impossible to be overweight and happy, amirite, ladies?—and then in the next frame, she is magnificently transformed. No more belly! And longer hair and whiter teeth, somehow!
We know it’s crap. We tell ourselves that it’s crap. But it still works its nasty little magic on us, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. Multiple studies show that that “fitspiration” can be inspiriting, but more often than not, it leads to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and lower self-esteem in both men and women, while simultaneously doing nothing to inspire people to exercise more[1][2][3]. But here we are, and that leads me to our little demonstration.
Internet before and after photos are nightmares. They can be doctored and photoshopped within an inch of their lives, they can be set up by professionals and provided by the aforementioned companies, and sometimes they can be outright stolen from legitimate online weight-loss groups (and in some ridiculous instances, pregnancy groups). But you don’t actually need any of that to create an illusion.
These photos were taken within two minutes of each other. The first, I’m purposefully standing with poor posture, tilting my pelvis forward, and pushing my belly out as far as it will go. The second is a little closer to reality because I’m standing up straight, but I’m also using a bit of posing and I’m flexing pretty hard (and yes, I still have a little “mom pooch”, and I’m fine with it. Come at me).
Here’s where things get a little more personal and probably NSFW. We’ve all seen the photos of women’s backsides next to ads for some kind of magic cream or dust to make the dimples and cellulite vanish. The after shot is a butt that is perfectly round, smooth, and most likely tan. The same is done for Pinteresty squat challenges and the like, all to show you what YOUR butt could look like if you’d just do xyz. Don’t get me wrong, squats are wonderful and can do great things for your backside. But again, what you see is not necessarily reality. Cue next slide.
That is my saggy, dimpled butt. And, five seconds later, my round and toned butt. For the first one, I tucked my pelvis and tightened my glutes. For the second, I arched my back to a near-painful degree. No lighting tricks, no computer magic. Both me. And I guess that’s the main point. My body is both of these ways, and they’re both good. The woman in both of those pictures can lift a substantial amount of weight, finish a marathon, climb over ridiculous obstacles, and play with her kiddo. The woman in both of those photos has intrinsic value that is no way tied to what her body looks like on a given day. That is my body, and my reality, and the only one I’m given. Wasting time on what someone else *might* look like or how my body *could* be just takes time away from appreciating how I already look and what I can already do.
I’m not naïve enough to think that this post or others like them will work some magic so none of us will ever pine over “perfect” bodies again. We’re human and susceptible to advertising. But next time you do, try to take a second and remember that what you’re seeing might not be real, and even if it is, that doesn’t make your body less amazing.
xo, Andi
[1]Robinson, L., Prichard, I., Nikolaidis, A., Drummond, C., Drummond, M., & Tiggemann, M. (2017). Idealised media images: The effect of fitspiration imagery on body satisfaction and exercise behaviour. Body Image, 22, 65-71. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2017.06.001
[2] Gallagher, Shannon Murphy, "The influence of social media on teens' self-esteem" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 2438. http://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/2438
[3] Christopher P. Barlett, Christopher L. Vowels, and Donald A. Saucier (2008). Meta-Analyses of the Effects of Media Images on Men's Body-image Concerns. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 279-310. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2008.27.3.279