In a world where apps like Photoshop and FaceTune are right at your fingertips, it’s easy to get caught up in the false depictions of the female body. Instagram has implemented a new policy that restricts users under 18 from viewing posts that promote diet or weight loss products and will now be completely deleting posts that claim ‘miraculous’ weight-loss using a commercial product. This includes FitTea and other appetite-suppressing products often advertised by popular influencers for sponsorships.
The policy was inspired by advocates such as Jameela Jamil, who started “I Weigh,” a campaign that promotes measuring your worth in who you are rather than in how much you weigh. Jamil has taken on multitudes of influencers, including the Kardashians, by shaming them for promoting weight loss products while having a predominantly female following. The danger of advertising these products in a way that makes weight loss seem plausible simply by sucking on a dieting lollipop or drinking a detox tea enhances when it comes from influencers who have gained their looks through genetics, self-enhancements or even Photoshop.
In fact, diet products have detrimental effects on your health. Most reported with stomach troubles, cramps and diarrhea. So much so, the products have not been allowed to be FDA approved and continue to cause major health issues. They also have negative effects on your mental health as increased beauty standards have caused an increase in anxiety and depression among women.
Instagram’s new policies are important in shielding teens from the dangerous diet culture that resides within influencers’ advertising posts. With Instagram being one of the most popular apps to date, with over six million users logged on, it’s no surprise that it’s power over the stigmas of the female appearance has affected young girls and older women alike. It has created a new wave of beauty standards that are impossible to keep up with.
Instagram has a long way to go with restricting its influence on over-the-top beauty standards. The age of social media has created an easier way to manipulate women into believing that they aren’t perfect until they have this or this or this. It’s important to start seeing our worth in who we are, not how we look like.