It’s wrong to cryptically shame women who post only their “flawless” exercise videos that don’t show what their tummy “really looks like.”
By selecting only the footage that doesn’t show skin folding over on their tummy (which can mimic belly fat), or even actual surplus fat, these women are simply doing what people have been doing ever since the invention of the motion camera: showing themselves off looking their best.
We need to get away from this fixation in the influencer world where it’s deemed deceptive or fraudulent for a female influencer to exclude the footage in which her midsection looks less than flattering.
There are many influencers who are critical of this approach.
What’s ironic is that these critics will do a lot of exclusion themselves – when it comes to their hair and makeup.
For instance, I’ll bet there are many photos or videos of themselves that get deleted from the start because of, for instance, “My hair doesn’t look right here,” or, “I look so pale in this lighting,” or, “One eye looks smaller than the other.”
So those photos or videos get immediately deleted, while the influencer ultimately chooses the imagery where her hair looks perfect, where the makeup looks on-point, where the lip color is fire.
Yet when another influencer posts only the exercise imagery that makes her abdominal area look totally flat and firm, she gets the shaft for “not being real” or “not being truthful to her audience.”
This is a double standard. In fact, it would seem that putting on a lot of makeup and spending who knows how much time on one’s hair would be more “fake” than simply posting only the most flattering pics or videos.
The Point of a Workout Clip
Whether the footage is 20 seconds for one exercise; a compilation of just three seconds for multiple exercises spanning a minute; or longer clips – the point is often either of an instructional nature or to give updates on followers on what exercises that influencer has been doing lately.
It could be to show a new piece of equipment, or the enthusiasm over mastering a complex movement such as the back squat.
It could be to show how they start their day or combat stress.
It could be to show off new workout attire, or perhaps they have a sponsorship for a footwear company.
So why shouldn’t they post only the images that are the most flattering of their midsection, back and thighs?
They should not get criticized for excluding that reel showing rolls in their tummy or cellulite or something sagging that shouldn’t.
I’m not an influencer, but I’m heavily into working out.
If I were to one day decide to create an account full of videos or images of myself strength training, you’d better believe I’d avoid posting the ones where, for instance, the way I’m seated or moving causes my tummy to puff out or my inner thighs to look bigger than they actually are.
Likewise, I certainly wouldn’t post the footage that makes it look as though my eyes are sunken in or my foot is a mile long.
Filming, angles, lighting and other variables can skewer how you look.
It is NOT a show of fraudulence, deception, hypocrisy, body image disorder or low self-worth to choose only your best looking posts.
