Instagram / @dianasirokaiTwo plus-size models have posted a side-by-side post of an image, before and after Photoshop to make an important point about body image.
Diana Sirokai and Callie Thorpe asked a photographer to revise their picture to show the difference editing makes in the world of fashion.
They want to highlight how misleading photoshopped images can be, as well as wanting to promote positive body attitudes with their candid post.
They titled the post ‘Swipe for Reality’ and explained the reasons behind it:
The pair have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram between them and they’re leading figures in the growing, body positivity movement, which is sweeping the social media site.
The caption on Diana Sirokai’s post reads:
Myself and @calliethorpe have asked our photographer @photo_karizza to use photoshop on us. I have to say we look amazing both ways.
The purpose of this was to show you all how magazines and the media takes editing to a different level. Models and celebrities do not even look like theirselves.
We live in such a fake world it’s time to bring real back. Own who you are and slay!
In the body positive community, bloggers, models and media personalities are sharing unedited pictures to promote the reality of how they really look versus the edited versions which get posted daily.
It’s widely thought these edited images contribute to mental health issues in young men and women, who see the unattainable bodies on their social media on a daily basis.
The pair enlisted the help of their collaborator, Karina Plotavteca, to edit the photo, removing cellulite and slimming them down.
The caption on Callie Thorpe’s post reads:
It’s no wonder women are laden with insecurities. For years we have been subjected to perfect airbrushed, and often altered, images across the media.
Whilst photoshop has its place and need in some parts of industries this is the extreme when it comes to editing, it just goes to show how much we can really alter ourselves.
[We] look perfect just as we are, two friends smiling for a photo. We want to show women that it’s okay to look ‘normal’ to have cellulite, stretch marks and tummies that aren’t flat and toned. Be happy with you who you are and the skin you are in.
Body positivity is becoming a bigger and bigger phenomenon on the web and it’s rightfully encouraging men and women to feel more at home in their own bodies – discouraging the negative comparisons which people make with their friends and their idols.
Back in August, UNILAD spoke to Kate Wasley and Georgia Gibbs, who started a body positivity campaign called ‘Any BODY’ after online backlash at a photo of them together.
Georgia is a UK size 6 and Kate is a UK size 16 and people seemed to think it means they can’t be friends, or one was inherently more desirable than the other.
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They told us:
People will always make assumptions and jump to conclusions! I was more concerned that rather than seeing a friendship people just saw two women and two different bodies.
My initial reaction was shock because I didn’t expect people to be so negative about two women they didn’t know…
Any BODY was created because we were concerned at the way society and women looked at themselves, not to mention the endless comparisons women make to other women on social media.
So, Any BODY was born really to bring back a little real into our social media world.
People like Diana, Callie, Georgia and Kate are perfect examples of a healthy attitude to body image which more people could do with taking notice of.
