Detox smoothies, flat bellies and tight asses made by squats (apparently very important) flow down a constant stream on my social media sites.

Always the same, over and over again.

Pictures combined with “words of wisdom” about health and the fact that everything is possible if you work hard. Hence, if you don’t look like a supermodel, you just haven’t tried hard enough: “Don’t be a quitter! Rome was not built in one day!”

Ah, so many great quotes to choose from.

At first I thought the reason why I didn’t like this trend was because, honestly, I don’t work out that much myself. If my brain is not up for it, I’m not going to force it.

But this is not about me, it’s about something much more important.

Social media has created awareness about the beauty industry and portrayal of women. Even magazines such as Cosmopolitan and ELLE have started writing about feminism.

And then this trend shows up.

Suddenly, objectifying women is totally okay, but we don’t call it objectifying, because we are talking about health.

If oily asses and anorectic bellies are going to keep you from getting fat, then social media is the way to go. It is totally acceptable to have a board on Pinterest named “fitspo,” to which we pin images of everything we have been working against—only the body parts have been photoshopped to perfection are good enough.

And of course, we are following a few accounts on Instagram with the same name, or maybe even one dedicated solely to asses. You know, for our health.

It seems we do not question what health is really about. Surely it’s not about a perfect ass or silicone boobs (which most of the fitness girls seems to have, and are the result of a lot of sweat and hard work).

What about the health of our souls? How are they feeling?

Studies have shown that fashion magazines make women feel worse about themselves.

What happens when all of those photos of perfect bodies jump out of the magazines and into people’s social media streams, 24/7? I can only speak from my own experience, and it is not looking good.

So, all you ass-loving fitness people out there, really think about it the next time you decide to post something. Think about the beauty standards you are portraying and pursuing, and how it makes other people feel.

You might want to post it to a closed group with only fitness people. You might want to post a picture of something other than your ass. Or you might not want to post anything at all. At least I know that would make my life a little bit healthier.

 

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Apprentice Editor: Carrie Marzo / Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: J@YGS/Flickr