Keeping it Real: Body Size & Public Perception

Keeping it real is one aspect many look for when body positivity is involved. In today’s society technology is ever present in the lives of everyone, especially the younger generations. The advancement of editing apps has only intensified people’s desire to look thin and resemble society’s standards of what a real body should look like. Keeping it real, honest and authentic with the public is what influencers Jaimie Weisberg and Victoria Garrick strive to do. Each of these individuals promote the idea of what keeping it real looks like to them, but the way the public perceives their messages heavily differs due to their body sizes. Jaimie is a plus-size influencer who talks about her body and acknowledges that she is bigger and that she is ok and happy with her size. Victoria discusses how toxic editing apps are and how they create this desire to look a certain way that conforms to society’s standards. Both of these influencers try to be authentic and showcase this to the public, but the way in which the public perceives how honest they are varies based on their body type.

Being authentic is a major component to being body positive as the goal of being body positive is to be happy in your own body despite how it looks. Both Jaimie and Victoria show how they are happy with their body types in different ways. In one of Jaimie’s videos, she talks about how she wears baggy clothing because she is fat but despite her clothing choices, she knows that at the end of the day she is still fat and is ok with that. Her comments are quite negative, however, and do not show support for her that she is on the heavier side and that she is happy with her body. One comment states, “baggy clothes? … u sure?” insinuating that while Jaimie may call them baggy but since her body type is on the heavier side it makes her clothing more tight fitting. When looking at Victoria, a retired professional volleyball player, many look up to her due to her authenticity about how everyone should feel confident in their body. She specifically looks into photoshop and shows how her body differs when it is edited vs when it is natural. Through the pictures below on the left you can see how she’s sucking in and has a filter on her face to make her eyes and lips look more appealing. On the right side you can see when the filter is taken away her face looks more natural and her stomach is fully expanded. Within the comments the public expresses gratitude for showing her true self and tells her how she’s an inspiration to the younger generation. One comment that supports her being real states, “We have the same body type ❤️thank you!!! I look good when flexed but naturally I’ve got rolls and all!”. Influencers like Victoria who have an average body figure and who show it in its natural form attract a lot of positive attention from the public as many can relate to her. While both Jaimie and Victoria show body positivity in the same manner of being confident with who they are, the public interprets their messages differently due to their respective body sizes.

Body positivity does not always revolve around how someone looks, it is also about how confident you feel in your own body. Both Jaimie and Victoria portray to the public how they feel confident in their own bodies. Victoria tries to emphasize how social media can be deceiving by editing videos of herself to show the fake and real version of her to let others know it is ok to have rolls and be “imperfect”. Jaimie shows that even though she is a bit heavier, she is still ok with her body type and others should be too. Although both of them promote being their authentic self, Jaimie received more hate comments due to her body size while Victoria is praised as she is more average sized and can connect with a broader audience.