As you scroll past photo after photo of seemingly flawless bodies every day, it can feel like Instagram is setting you up to be critical of yourself. But what if we told you about one page that’s changing that—one place where you can find inspiration from real people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds? Cue @theeverybodybeautystandard, your one-stop shop for body-positivity.
People from all walks of life submit their self-love stories to @theeverybodybeautystandard along with photos of their bodies. Their mission? To redefine the meaning of beauty and encourage body-positivity “one story at a time.” They’re also sharing their stories to let others know they’re not alone on their own journeys.
One of them is @iamzainabmohammed, who uses a prosthetic foot on her left leg.
“I have struggled with every kind of positivity I can think of, from body-positivity to mental positivity, ever since I realized I was different from everyone,” she wrote. “I will no longer battle with my real self (who I am) and my ideal self (who I want to be). Instead, I will find balance—I will accept myself and grow every day, because that is all I can do.”
Like this one, many of the stories on @theeverybodybeautystandard tell of a person who struggles with self-acceptance but is also determined to celebrate their beauty.
Another story comes from @baranikki. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been thinking, ‘When I lose weight, I’ll be happy,’ ‘When I lose weight, someone will finally want me,’ ‘When I lose weight, I’ll finally be accepted,’” she wrote. “So here I am, finally starting to not always think ‘when…’ and instead live in the now and love all of me.”
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This is a problem a lot of us run into. We get caught up thinking everything would be easier if we looked a certain way, but our looks aren’t responsible for our happiness—our mindset is.
That’s the idea @memoirofkiki talks about in her post: “I made the executive decision to love myself. I promise you, there are times when that isn’t easy—but then I look at myself and realize how beautiful and extraordinary I am, even if some other people don’t believe so.”
She went on to say she refuses to let society have power over her body. “We all have a natural need to want to belong, but if my body doesn’t belong, I don’t want to conform,” she wrote.
She’s right. We all want to fit in, but we have to be aware of when our trying to fit in is actually forcing ourselves to sacrifice a part of who we are. That’s what @theeverybodybeautystandard is all about—making people feel like they belong no matter what they look like.
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