4-part ask ahead! Thank you (and others like feelslikecourage, velvettruce, antigarlicclub, etc.) for making posts that speak out against before/after pics. I think theyāre one of the most toxic things in the ED recovery community. Itās frustrating bc most anti-before/after pic posts get a lot of notes, so youād think that weād be seeing less of these transformation pics. But sometimes it seems like weāre seeing even MORE of them.
2. And I think the main reason why is bc these pics always get so much attentionā¦tons of ālikes,ā reblogs, positive/supportive comments, the poster gains followers, etc. Rarely does anyone ever challenge the poster as to what their true intentions are or tell them that their post could be problematic. I also often see people who like/reblog posts against before/afters then turn around and like/reblog the very posts they supposedly disapprove of ā sometimes they even post their own!
3. This hypocrisy helps keep these toxic posts so popular. Like that one posts says ā if you post before/afters, youāre part of the problem. Well youāre also part of the problem if you support them! Even though these pics will never completely go away, Iāve been trying to think of what we as a community could actually do to make them less prolific, and I came up with an idea that I wanted to share.
4. What if, in honor of our favorite (lol) NEDA Week, someone were to start a post that would be like a pledge to not post or support in any kind of way transformation pictures? Do you think that would be a good idea and would you or any of your followers want to start the āpledgeā post? I donāt have a very popular blog, so thatās why Iāve come to you. Letās take action and make a difference!
The attention, validation, and praise probably feel really great to the person who posted the photos, and Iāve very rarely seen anyone speak out against the photos to that person and say, āHey, what youāre doing is actually really harmful.ā Iāve certainly never reblogged or commented on those posts, because I donāt want to deal with the negative reactions of that personās followers and praise-givers, and Iām sure many other bloggers feel the same.
Donāt even get me started on the hypocrisy. If you reblog a post against before and after photosets but donāt say anything to your friends or followers that post those photosets, your reblog is really quite meaningless, because you obviously donāt believe that these photos are harmful if youāre praising someone who posts that photos. I know that speaking to that person and explaining the harmful consequences would be really awkward and uncomfortable, but I do think that such conversations need to happen.
Iāve gotten involved in the hashtagĀ āBoycottTheBeforeā on Instagram. Someone with a very popular blog started a campaign against before photos, and Iām really hopeful that she can use her influence to make these photos less common. Unfortunately, Iāve noticed that when someone isĀ āunableā to post a low-weight photo, that person will then include explicit details and numbers in aĀ ārecovery inspirationā post instead, which is unfortunate, but -- small steps!
So, if anyone wants to become involved in Boycott The Before on Instagram or even on Tumblr, please feel free to do so! Iāve also recently used the tagĀ ābeforeisbullshit,ā and Iām thinking about speaking out against thoseĀ ārecovery is possibleā posts that focus more on how sick a person used to be than that personās recovery process.
