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On Instagram, the influencer Jezabel Putride pushed a rant against the phenomenon "Instagram vs reality" which is flowing on social networks.
For some time now on social networks, we have seen the phenomenon of "Instagram vs reality" appear. The principle ? It's about showing the difference between the Internet and reality. On paper, this "trend" appears important on a social network like Instagram where each shot seems calculated to the nearest millimeter. The problem: as with the body positive movement, it has been picked up by standardized people and already widely represented. This is what the influence Jezabel Putride @metauxlourds denounces in a long post on Instagram.
Instagram vs reality, when the body positivism movement is meaningless
In the image published by Jezabel, we can see two pictures. On the left, the Instagram reality: the young woman posing, arched, her hand in her hair. The photo is accompanied by the insults she regularly receives on the social network: "I did not know that whales were wearing bras" or "Stop cheering her on, seriously, you can see he's a monster". On the right, the "reality" photo, where she points out the grossophobia she endures on a daily basis: difficulty finding a job, difficult access to healthcare due to a lack of suitable equipment, difficulty finding clothes to suit her size …
Through this publication @metauxlourds wishes to show that fat bodies are discriminated against on a daily basis, whatever the "posture" adopted. "At the moment, I see a lot of Instagram vs. Reality photos passing by. I find it very good, and also, I find it frustrating […] The problem is that by showing this double standard, we forget that it ultimately only concerns standardized bodies. Let me explain: when Karen, Jeannine and Brenda squirm to have a perfect hourglass figure, they look like the girls in magazines. When they stop twisting, they have stretch marks and a bulge, but still a slim, fit, white and standardized figure that allows them to progress in life without too much hassle. With devastating complexes sometimes, probably " writes Jezabel.
The big body, even staged, from a flattering and well-lit angle, remains the body that must be hidden
The problem underlined by the young woman is that it is the standardized people who are put forward in this fight against normativity itself, which continues to make large bodies invisible. "When you're fat, you are all the time. There is no escape because you bulge your chest or bend your hips. Discrimination is 24 hours a day" she explains. This appropriation of "body positivism" depoliticizes this movement and makes those who invented it invisible: fat and racialized women.