ALANNAH KERR
In today’s society, social media has taken over the minds of young women and brainwashed them into how their bodies should look to seem sexy, attractive and beautiful.
What young women aren’t realising is it’s all a misconception.
It all comes down to good angles and edits, resulting in the seemingly perfect figure depicted not being as realistic as we are lead to believe.
Co-founders of Keep It Cleaner, Laura Henshaw and Steph Claire Smith recently posted a very powerful and eye opening message about misconceptions of body image.
“So many ‘fitspo’ accounts post edited, perfectly lit, filtered images and it can be really dangerous if girls are trying to achieve this as it isn’t actually real,” Ms Henshaw said.
Ms Henshaw went on to say, “It is one of those things unfortunately so many girls aren’t aware of and we just wanted to create some awareness for any girls who are aspiring to images that are completely unrealistic.”
According to Eating Disorders and Obesity, an astonishing 75% of young women wished they had their ideal figure being thinner than their own. They say that ‘body image’ may be the western world’s ugliest export. Research evidence links body dissatisfaction to physical and mental health concerns for both men and women – and exposure to the media has been shown to play a significant role.
“One of the most frustrating questions we get from girls is- “what do I do to get a thigh gap?” This always upsets me as it is completely genetic and unattainable if your bone structure is a certain way. I personally do not have one and I just don’t get the obsession with it,” Ms Henshaw said of trending figure goals.
Brisbane based nutritionist and personal trainer, Marika Day was one of the many to repost the ‘Misconception’ post from ‘Keep It Cleaner’ of herself showing her bad angle compared to her good angle.
“It is great to see Steph and Laura, as models, are showing us what life is like behind the camera without the photoshop, hair, make up, lighting and angles,” Ms Day said.
“For some being bombarded with images of thin, fit or lean women all day can lead to feelings of inadequacy in their own body. What I love about Keep it Cleaner’s post is using social media for a good cause!”
Being a professional in this industry, Ms Day definitely has witnessed the sad outcomes of social media effecting our young women, ‘I have sadly had women come to me with screen shots of “instafamous / fitspo” accounts and asked if I could help them to look like that.”
Given this issue has caused women to mentally see themselves in a bad way, Ms Day has advice on how it can be solved.
“It isn’t something that can be solved in one consult. I started my business based on this issue and now run an 8 week girls program, which is focused on doing exactly that. Changing their mindset around body image, nutrition and health,” she said.
“Many of the girls in my program have said that with ongoing support, balanced nutrition, balanced exercise and education around a positive body image that they have been able to improve their overall mental and physical wellbeing.”
If you would like support to help change your mindset and learn to love your body and be happy, fit and healthy, then head to Marika Day’s website FitFood+Soul or her Instagram @fitfoodandsoul and contact her so she can help you on your journey.
