01/26/2023
Photos that document weight loss, added muscle, and other physical changes are all over the internet and there are lots of opinions about them. Here are...â
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4 LESS TALKED ABOUT IMPACTS OF BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOSâ
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They reinforce weight stigma and anti-fat bias.â
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When you see a picture of a woman with a smaller waist or bigger thigh gap and a comment stating how âso inspiringâ and âgreatâ that she looks, these kinds of comments can seem positive (like âyou look great!â) but they nurture internalized fatphobia because they emphasize the idea that being thin is better than being fat.â
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They donât show the whole story.â
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Another problem with before-and-afterâs when it comes to bodies is that they only show two moments in time. Bodies are always changing, even the person posting the photos wonât look like their âafterâ forever.â
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They put far too much value in appearances.â
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When you ask someone how their journey is going so far, itâs important to understand that mental health issues come in many forms. Being thin doesnât imply success or happinessâand neither does smiling in an after photo.â
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They trigger unhealthy comparison.â
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Before and after photos are a powerful marketing tool. With the right example, you can convince people that your product is better than whatâs being offered by the competition.â
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Think of before and after photos focused on weight loss, for example. If a group of people looking at a single photo of someone standing in a bathing suit, each person in that group might have a different reaction. But if that same photo is shown next to another photo of the same person but have a larger body, the reactions of the group looking at the photo become much more uniform. They notice the size of the personâs body in both photos before anything else.â
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Instead of emphasizing body transformations, we should be celebrating mental health wins, strength, major life events, and accomplishments that have nothing to do with appearance and/or weight.â
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At the end of the day, you cannot look at a body on a screen and truly understand what it's like to live inside that body.â
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We are all beautiful at every size.