Beauty and body standards are put to the test when it comes to Instagram Users viewing body influencers on Instagram. For example, fitness influencer Sommer Ray with 22.9 million followers on Instagram.
Fitness and other influencers, specifically on Instagram, can show perfection without the struggles of real life.
October 25, 2019
Magazines, advertisements, movies and many other entertainment outlets have shaped the way young children view themselves and their bodies.
From when Instagram was first launched in October 2010, the modeling, beauty and fitness culture has been heightened ever since. Instagram fitness influencers, including the verified accounts run by Sommer Ray, Michelle Lewin and Jen Selter have appealed to users, having accounts with over 12 million followers.
According to Ricky Derisz from Instagram’s Influence on Negative Body Image, Instagram has a very heavy focus on imagery specifically focusing on body image.
The small group of engineers and designers who created Instagram envisioned the app to capture simple everyday moments and inspire creativity within its users. The culture of Instagram has bloomed into an array of varying perspectives through the years; although some not as positive as others. This is where the impact of fitness and body influencers promoting body perspectives on Instagram users come into play.
“From what I’ve seen it helps encourage people to work out and live healthier lifestyles instead of just them just showing off,” junior Riley Gaylord said. “In some ways they are positive because they help promote working out better and living a healthier lifestyle, but in some ways not.”
Media can often be viewed as an easy way to trick an audience. Examples of this include women and men on Instagram who promote detox drinks to lose 20 pounds in one week, and workout clothing to enhance one’s body muscles.
From simply looking around, no two bodies are the same. On Instagram, it is as easy as a few simple clicks to achieve the “perfect look” that one scrolls past multiple times a day.
“It’s like you’re going to have the perfect life when you’re skinny, but they put on a show and behind the scenes it’s not like that,” sophomore Reagan Conway said. “When I see those posts it makes me think that I should really get fit and healthy in order to look like that and it honestly keeps nagging at me.”
Instagram includes features that can be important to the experience of its users. This includes being able to turn off commentary on a post, being able to block certain accounts or being able to choose to refrain from viewing something.
“If someone is working really hard, they don’t want someone to go into the comments and degrade them,” Gaylord said.
These features can become beneficial to Instagram users who try to stay positive. Staying positive may become a fight for Instagram users in a scrolling land filled with stereotypes and judging eyes.
According to Derisz, society expects women to defy the human body and attain curves in just the right places. Dertisz also believes how men are expected to follow the guidelines of the incredible superhero characters with the best body exactly like in the movies, much like having an impression of Lou Ferrrigno’s Incredible Hulk.
Instagram users seem to feed off of body positivity, but not always in the right ways. The idea that one needs to look exactly like everyone else is highly acknowledged, especially for both men and women.
“With guys, it’s either you look like a box, or you’re out of shape,” Gaylord said. “With girls, there are so many different ways that you can look.”
Body positivity is a mainstream way of challenging the way societal viewpoints affect personal self body image. Instagram is just one social media platform that challenges this. The idea of beautiful, healthy and fit is far from the societal cookie cutter that has been installed.
