Edited by Sophia Savva
Whether you’re an insta model, fitness guru, or just posting a picture on Instagram from a fun night out, at one point or another, you may have had someone comment #Goals or #Bodygoals on one of your photos. Although this may seem like a harmless compliment, or someone’s attempt to boost your confidence, hashtags such as these can perpetuate many problematic body image ideas and can be a dangerous concept that I am choosing not to subscribe to, and here’s why.
I took a look through the hashtag #BodyGoals on both Twitter and Instagram, and was unsurprised by my findings. On Twitter, the hashtag was filled with male and female fitness gurus: men with chiseled abs, ladies with tiny waists and voluptuous curves, females with toned abs, as well as some extremely rail thin bodies. Some of the posts on Instagram under this hashtag included pictures of highly toned bodies captioned with inspirational quotes such as “Work hard, train harder,” so it does not appear that the individuals who use this hashtag have negative intentions. Regardless of which one of these categories your #BodyGoals falls in to, designing your workout and/or diet regiment around achieving someone else’s physique has many psychological and physical downsides.
Physically, everyone’s genetics, muscle composition, height, and metabolism vary drastically, therefore, your #BodyGoals inspiration may have certain genetic advantages that you lack (and vice versa), making achieving their body type extremely difficult. You may workout and eat kale 24/7, but no fault of your own, may not be able to trade your athletic body type for a “model sized” one, due to genetics. As stated by Dr. Sara Gottfried MD “As a result of genetic variation, two people can eat the exact same diet and put on vastly different amounts of weight.” Dr. Gottfried blames this variation on what are referred to as “thrifty genes”, which are genes that provided evolutionary advantages of faster weight gain and increased survival when food was minimal.
Psychologically, when we view another person’s physique and aspire to it, we’re participating in what social psychologists refer to as “downward comparison”, which results in feeling worse about yourself and less motivated. And when someone comments on your own photo #BodyGoals you may participate in “upward comparison”, which involves perceiving yourself as better off. Therefore, comparison in either direction is negative. Rather than having your #BodyGoals be another person, become your own #BodyGoals and work on loving your own body and achieving your fitness aspirations through the means you feel is best for you.