You might be familiar with Cassey Ho, the certified fitness instructor behind Blogilates, thanks to her fun 30-day challenges, YouTube videos, and ever-active Instagram. But this week the cheery trainer revealed the dark side of being a face of fitness and an Internet celebrity: the hurtful, body-shaming comments she receives.
Ho posted the selfie below on Instagram with the caption “Finally got my perfect body” and directed people to her YouTube channel to learn her “body slimming secrets.” The photo was altered, but she didn’t say so.
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Her followers were in for a big surprise. In a video of titled “The ‘Perfect’ Body,” Ho looks at herself in the mirror, happy with her appearance (and rocking a post-workout glow). She posts a selfie. As she scrolls through her social media feeds, she starts to see mean comments. “You shouldn’t give advice when you’re so fat,” says one. “Trainer?…really? Tone up the belly fat and love handles,” writes another.
So she “edits” her body with Photoshop-like features: enhancing her butt and chest, thinning her thighs, slimming her face, and lightening her eye color.
She starts to post another selfie—this time with her new and “improved” look—and then stops. The video ends with Ho looking sadly at her reflection and fades to the words “What would you change?”
On Instagram, Ho posted a follow-up to her Photoshopped image, this time with people’s comments alongside. “Still too fat,” said one, while others praised this new slimmer, retouched body with comments like “goals.”
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Ho wrote in her caption that she was moved by the responses to her video, but was dismayed that some people thought this was her real body or a “goal” for them to reach. On the other hand, some others still didn’t think she was thin enough.
“If you want to know what you can do to help stop body shaming, all I ask is that you share the video with at least 1 person. That’s all.”
With so much body shaming in the news recently (Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Iggy Azalea, and Taylor Swift, just to name a few), we’re glad someone stood up to illustrate the effects of these hurtful comments. Being yourself will get you criticized—as will “fixing” your body to fit match what others think would be better. Ho showed that you can’t please everyone (nor should you want to) and that being confident in your own skin is the ultimate definition of beauty.
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from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1yTUcga
