Health

This Aerie Model Showed How Easy It Is to Manipulate Your Body on Instagram

May 2nd 2016

Instagram can be a powerful platform for both workout gurus and users looking to get in shape. The popular fitness hashtag #fitspo turns up nearly 30 million posts.

A big time underwear model, however, is calling bullshit on some of the tricks people use to appear thinner and more toned in fitness Instagram posts.

Iskra Lawrence, the face of the body positive Aerie REAL campaign, shared an Instagram post that highlights how different one's body can look based on posture.

In the photo below, Lawrence juxtaposes side-by-side portraits of herself striking different poses in the same clothing. In the image to the left, her thighs are touching. In the image to the right, where her back is arched, Lawrence appears to have a thigh gap.

She wrote that while it shouldn't matter if someone has a thigh gap or not, people should keep in mind that others manipulate their bodies to look skinnier and more physically fit on social media. Therefore, it's important to remember that social media does not necessarily represent reality. This is also valuable because some people develop eating disorders or unhealthy body image obsessions after fixating on fitness and #cleaningeating posts on Instagram.

"I'll be the first one to tell you pics are all about good lightening and angles," Lawrence wrote. "Always remember social media [is] not real life. [Ne]ver let anyone else's pics make you feel insecure about yourself. If you don't look like her and she doesn't look like you that's how it's meant to be. You are meant to be YOU no one else, your body is your home so love and respect it. When you look after it beautiful things happens."

Lawrence's post received more than 107,000 likes and lots of supportive feedback:

InstagramInstagram - instagram.com

Lawrence, who has more than one million Instagram followers, is not the first big-time Instagram user to tackle this subject.

Jessica Pack, the woman behind the popular fitness Instagram page Planking for Pizza, pointed out in February that many fitness posts can be deceptive. She shared her "30 second transformation" photo, which reveals side-by-side images of her in a bikini taken within 30 seconds of each other. Pack, whose body looks drastically different in the juxtaposed photos, was trying to show how easy it can be to get fooled by fitness posts.

"You can show your best angles and hide your flaws, but at the end of the day what we choose to showcase is a reflection of ourselves," she wrote. "My body isn't perfect. I still have imperfections and flaws that I'm slowly learning to be comfortable with. I want to be real and honest and open."

Others have shared #30SecondTransformation posts to make a similar point about fitness deception on Instagram.

RELATED: What Happened When This Model Was Told Her Hips Were Too Big

Share your opinion

Do model posts on social media make you feel self-conscious?

No 36%Yes 64%