I did a mini series called Expectations vs. Reality. Being on social media all of the time, there’s a lot of pressure to look a certain way, eat certain things, and work out all the time to have a perfect body.
I feel the need to try to eat healthy things, but it normally just doesn’t happen. I work full time, school full time, and try to have a life outside of both of those. I don’t always (more like never) have the time to prepare fresh salads and the healthiest food. It’s more like, what can I buy that’s quick, easy and can throw it in a microwave. But sometimes that makes me feel bad because I see all of these beautiful squares of food on Instagram and feel like that’s what I should be eating. (Which I mean, okay. I should be eating healthy. But still! Sometimes I wanna eat chicken strips and not feel bad about it.)
Also scrolling through Instagram, there is no shortage of beautiful girls with perfect make up, perfect hair, perfect everything. And then after seeing it so much it’s hard not to feel like you have to live up to that expectation too. I know I’m not the only one who has taken about 100 selfies just to get the “perfect” one! On the left I softened my skin, got rid of a few bumps and spots, whitened my eyes and my teeth. The right has absolutely no retouching except some contrast and color adjustments. (But shout out to the fantastic natural oil highlight I got going on)I used to feel self conscious about going out without make up on, especially without mascara. My eyelashes are blonde so it doesn’t look like I have any, and people always tell me how “tired” I look. But now I’m becoming way more comfortable and I don’t care as much anymore. That’s just me and I’m okay with it. I feel like everyone should feel great in their no make up skin cause everyone is still flawless without it.
Then we get to the last picture. Why do girls in magazines look so flawless when they’re working out? Why are you wearing make up? How is your hair perfectly done? When I go to the gym, half (most)(all) the time I don’t even want to be there. I’m wearing a big baggy shirt, some sweats or leggings, and my hair is disgusting. My make up (if I’m coming after work) is sweating off my face, I don’t look cute, and I’m feel/look like I’m going to die.
For the picture on the left, IT’S ALL PHOTOSHOP!!!
Here is the comparison to the two. I made my legs, arms, and stomach skinnier, my butt and my boobs bigger. I got rid of the redness of my legs (why they get red and nothing else is a mystery to me) and I softened my skin as well. It’s so important to me that people know what I did to photoshop this picture because if you know why you’re doing, it’s relatively easy. This picture only took me about 10 minutes to fix up and make it look like this. Magazines do it all the time. They photoshop the women on there to make them look perfect and air brushed, and very rarely do you get to see the befores. So don’t always believe what you see in the magazines, and strive for being a healthy you, and not for “perfection” because it doesn’t exist!
Let me know what you think of my project! What other pressures do you feel from social media? How are you dealing with those feelings?
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