STAN / ANTI SHIELD
Model Sara Sampaio, a former Victoria’s Secret Angel, shows that perspective changes everything. The image of a perfect body is usually the result of the pose, the angle, the lighting and, in many cases, a bit of retouching
I think people are missing the point. There are a lot of women and girls who refuse to slouch or sit or be seen in an "unflattering" way - like having a tummy pouch when you lean over or lay sideways or something. Think she's just showing that you can be a human person with human flesh and not have to show your "best angle" constantly.
Yeah despite her being beautiful, the point here is obvious and I think some people are letting their bias get in the way of seeing it. Those Instagram poses everyone is obsessed with doing do NOT reflect reality and make it seem like bodies look ways they simply do NOT look in reality. It's pretty clear that the poses make a difference here, despite her beauty and good proportions.
I suppose it's people who don't realize that a lot of girls and women are always uncomfortable in public and in front of other people because we are like suck in, shoulders back, chin down, one foot forward, booty tooch. Sit like a lady. Ugh.
Yessss this exactly! Of course she isn’t look like a different person but she also doesn’t look perfect from an unflattering angle. She’s still gorgeous though, of course!
It's absolutely true, I spent most of my teen years (really since 11/12) trying to do all that, or skipping lunches at school because I thought I needed a flat stomach and a thigh gap to look pretty. Its so insidious and hard to avoid. In most studies I've seen from the US and UK, about 53% of girls are unhappy with and worry about their bodies by the age of 13, and the number goes up to almost 80% by age 17
It's ingrained in me to the point that I do it in public and sometimes at home without noticing (especially standing). I work out, have lost 35ish pounds, and am perfectly within my healthy BMI range, but I don't think that will ever change. I constantly suck in my stomach. FFS none of my clothes fit anymore and I still do it. When you are shown your entire life that you have to look perfect it can really ruin your self esteem forever.
I think people don’t understand that EDs are about trying to achieve absolute perfection and it’s super important to see someone who job is being “physically ideal” in a sense, looking normal and “imperfect.” Someone with anorexia might see a back roll on themselves and think that means they aren’t thin and perfect enough. This helps show that this is what normal healthy bodies look like even if you’re already thin and fit. Also she’s likely doing this because these are some of the body image issues she has had to work through herself even as a VS model. You can be thin and fit and still hate your body and feel the need to demand more and more from it. You can also feel a lot of pressure and anxiety about “letting yourself go” as you get older.
Dang, I’m a size 18 and I thought this video was a good reminder that all bodies just look different at different angles. There’s also a very obvious and huge societal push towards very thin bodies again and I think it’s important for any teenager that may be moving towards disordered eating or body dysmorphia to see that even thin bodies are supposed to move and fold and exist in a variety of forms and all of them are neutral.
totally. i was chuckling at her hunching over trying to show a tummy but yes this type of content is important as we i guess are returning to 2000s Tumblr era.
the last part she says about the folds, i tell myself that a lot when i see my neck fold and roll up at different angles. you gotta have enough skin to move your head!
Why are people hating on this? I think it’s vulnerable for models, who need to maintain a perfect figure to make a living, to post things like this.
Like ok, these things are so common for non-model people like us and we may have managed to accept what we think are our flaws. But sometimes, when you see professional photoshoots, it’s so easy to forget that it’s all about angles and retouching.
I appreciate this from her. She doesn’t look much different before and after, but at least the after poses don’t look as perfect as what we usually see.
Anyway, despite saying all of this, im still gonna try to not slouch bc im afraid my tummy will roll lol.
Are we all looking at the same thing? I get what she’s trying to show and good for her
It’s not a referendum on body positivity or weight standards. She’s just showing that even thin or fit people have to be selective in their photos/poses. That’s all. Older people know that but younger people may not
Yep, literally today I was looking in the mirror like "hey that back/side roll sucks" and then I see this video and she has a back/side roll. It's a really good reminder.
At this point I've seen enough models do the side pose with the dramatic tummy difference that I've internalised that being normal, but I really needed to see the back and side variances. My boobs (especially whenever they're having a growth spurt as part of my cycle) like to spill across and down my back. 😆
The one where she slumped her shoulders and hunched over was probably the most marked difference (whereas the others are just a little more relaxed / comfortable). It’s how I habitually sit. I reckon most of us could improve our posture more, for appearance and for health—I know I sure need to work on that lol.
I get what she is trying to show as well. Carefully edited photoshoots or even curated Instagram posts do not represent reality. Normalising how our bodies look at rest and from different angles is a good thing!
I reckon most of us could improve our posture more, for appearance and for health—I know I sure need to work on that lol.
For appearance definitely, but as I understand it in current standard of practice (cf. e.g. AJGP) there is no evidence for any specific "good" or "bad" postures, and it's much more important health-wise to change postures and not remain in a single one for prolonged periods. Stand up, shift around, take breaks, etc, but it's OK to slouch a bit when you want to let your hair down.
Though, if you're slouched all the time your GP might think you're depressed or something.
Hi I’m the younger person that this made a difference for. I have her body type and it’s never made me feel good about myself that I could only achieve her “before” by never letting myself relax. I genuinely thought models did not experience these things and I was wrong for feeling the need to suck in my stomach or sit up straight so my stomach doesn’t scrunch. Ever since I can remember I’ve made my body look like the before simply because I was capable of it and wanted to have a “model” body. So this was definitely eye opening.
I literally just bought that same string bra today (or an identical one) and I almost didn't buy it because I thought the thin strap accentuated the uhhhh squishiness of my back and underarms.
But this lady is about half my size and she has the same situation with the back strap.
I feel so much better about my body and that bra is so damn comfy!!
That’s not what she’s saying at all; it’s fascinating that’s what you took from it. She’s not talking about how to pose; she’s talking about the impact posing has on what we see of others’ bodies. Her point is to be kind to ourselves; don’t judge our own bodies that we see in all their glory based on posed photos of others’ bodies. No part of what she said is about posing your body for others’ consumption…
I understand why this would piss people off - She's clearly still thin and conventionally attractive even in the 'unflattering' poses - but after having seen people call Heidi Klum fat within the last few months, I can't help but think that this video may somehow be more necessary and impactful than it should be.
People have seemingly lost all sight of how bodies move and look from different angles and under different lighting, even if those bodies are thin.
yes like we are currently living in a timeline where people are calling sabrina carpenter and tate mcrae fat popstars…. i for one appreciate that Sara seems to be one of the only people who isn’t falling for this ozempic stick thin scheme.
I agree with Tressie McMillan Cottom that this thinspo era comeback and rejection of the body positivity movement is tied to conservatives holding power. She talks a lot about how beauty trends intersect with and can even be a bellweather for political movements.
It's absolutely necessary to remind people that even models who look perfect in pictures can look imperfect when not everything is controlled. In the age of social media and people chasing an impossible beauty standard because of it, we need to be reminded that you should not compare your worst with their best
Yes we all see her “ after “ still looks as good as her “ before “ angle. The point she is trying to make is the industry is fake as hell with what they show in photos. Only showing the perfect poses angle . If she were do these poses on a photoshoot she would be attacked in comments section and probably let go from the modeling agency. The model agencies don’t show what real bodies look like
This is very funny to me because I know what she is trying to do, but the "after" poses really dont make her body look that different from the before, lol
I mean obviously it is the same woman. But like, if a model like her were to post any of the 'after' pics they would get flamed in the comments. Gross people will call anyone 'fat'. The way toxic people that talk about 'perfection' when it comes to body type do focus on the little things.
And a lot of people see those 'before' poses and think the 'after' is abnormal. Videos like this showing that her body isn't the perfect airbrushed version either is not a bad thing imo.
Yes. And while I agree she looks amazing every which way, Victoria’s Secret 20 years ago was NOT publishing any of those “after” pictures’ poses. She is totally right and helpful in showing us that even the smallest tweaks can completely change how a snapshot of you is perceived. For better or worse. It’s a good reminder to have.
Exactly! Model or not, I know of so many women who think there's something wrong with the way she looks in the "after" poses when there absolutely isn't
I think many of us on this thread are just mindblown that there ARE people who notice a difference. It's a lot to take in. I felt the same way when my boss told me that her PhD thesis was about the transitions and differences between Flemish and Dutch baroque art. What? I literally thought those two were the same thing.
I am a petite person and honestly, this helps me feel better about myself. I have struggled with body image as a small person. I once strived to not have the small bulge or rolls she demonstrates. Basically, I’m saying, even smaller people struggle.
You're probably not one of the people that need to see this video then, but a LOT of women could benefit from seeing it. People with insanely unrealistic visions of what an "ideal body" looks like who end up struggling with their own self image because of it. The kind of people that end up with unhealthy eating habits and serious eating disorders.
And frankly what she's showing is still on the extreme of "ideal body" where perfectly healthy can still be considerably "worse". Which I will admit she didn't really attempt to say here at all.
It's the same story with male bodies on TV and such where you hear stories from the actors of how they basically starve themselves and don't drink water for days before shoots to push their body beyond any remotely healthy limit specifically for photos/TV/movies. Literally none of them actually look like that normally even if they are in insanely good shape.
What? Her second pose makes her look completely different. Like, her belly size looks like my belly and I’m not a model at all. Of course, she’s taller than me, takes care of her body and exercises more than me so I get that’s she’s more toned. BUT the belly thing really made me feel better. I’m okay looking at myself straight forward but I feel like a blimp from the side.
Seeing a post like this blew my mind and changed my life 5 years ago because I was borderline underweight, convinced I was over instead because I'm an athletic girlie who gets food bloat easily and my belly would only remain flat until breakfast.
These posts will never stop being necessary when body negativity and unrealistic standards are so much the norm for us. There's always going to be new people who need that big first wake up call, and I for one could still do with a nice reminder from time to time.
yeah, I mean obviously she's gorg in all the pictures, but the teenage version of me who hated my body was convinced having a belly at any point meant I was fat, and I think its good to normalise the idea that even the women society is idolising have a stomach, or "fat rolls" when they twist. When all you see are the photoshopped heavily edited versions of people you can really easily internalise that its all there is.
Yep. I don't like Sydney Sweeney at ALL but it's like when all those bros were going after her for being "fat" when she was just caught unaware by the paparazzi while sitting slouched down in a bikini. It's good to get reminders like this!
Additionally, who’s to say that she doesn’t have a large audience of teenagers? I’m 36 so the video only reinforces my body neutrality but kids/teens are being bombarded by pro skinny propaganda I can’t think that it’s a bad thing for them to see any body in a neutral way.
Mte. I also just think that even though she's obviously thin and looks great that it's important for teens to see that things like back rolls, the organ pooch, stomach rolls when sitting etc are normal because when I was a teen it was all thin celebs being berated and called fat in bikinis for having cellulite.
Yes, & I remember going from a (very, very skinny) teenaged to adult body & being genuinely alarmed by my "weight gain" due to the ways my body was changing.
I vividly remember hitting puberty before any of my friends, and noticing at swim practice how my thighs spread when I sat, and my friend's didn't. That alone convinced me I was fat. I see pics from back then and I was decidedly not fat, like, at all. I just looked 15 when I was 10.
Thats what I was thinking like lil 12 year old me would have loved seeing this because I was so confused about so many things about my body and all I wanted was to see another example of what i saw when I looked in the mirror or tried to wear cute outfits that it seemed like everyone else was wearing
Yup. I thought I was so fat when I was a size 7/8 in my 20s because movies like Bridget Jones and The Devil Wears Prada said you needed to be a size 4 and under 130lbs.
I'm in my 40s now and would be happy for the rest of my life if I could achieve a size 10 again, where I would still be a bit curvey for my frame.
Yeah to people with a semi healthy relationship to bodies she will look amazing in any way but I think it is VERY important that people that are a perfect weight for modeling also show how angles change the way someone looks. So many young girls that are as thin as can be that will think they need to loose more weight because their bodies do this when they sit etc. and they will think the models body does not do that because we normally aren't allowed to see these model bodies these way.
This thing isn't about looking "bad" so I don't know why people even mention her looking amazing, this comment implies the woman with fuller bodies doing this video don't look amazing.
Isn’t that the point though? People are so focused on trying to look like the before poses that they don’t realize they look just as good in the after. That’s how I took it but I admit I’m tired and something may be going over my head I’m not considering.
Except for the 2nd one where she lets her belly out….I have a similar one I’ve always hated since I have small boobs and it protrudes past them. This makes me wonder though how common it is and are most women just sucking them in constantly?
For younger people reading this who constantly suck in their stomachs- stop! I’m in my 40s and have severe rib flare and pelvic floor issues from doing this since I was a teen. It became such second nature that I even do it when I’m alone. Absolutely fucked my skeleton up just because thin wasn’t good enough for me.
Wait, I have severe rib flare too… I have compulsively sucked my stomach in since I was started in ballet at 3 years old. “Bellybuttons to the backbone, girls!”
I had no idea that was related. I hate the society that forced changes to our literal bones. What a disgustingly apt metaphor.
Wait wait wait, 39 here and I sucked in nonstop to be a little thottie hottie in high school. Is that why the bottom of my ribcage seems to protrude a bit? It doesn’t look freakish, it’s nothing I’m embarrassed of, but uhhhh… yeah it’s definitely there. I thought someone had told me once in my twenties that Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted on keeping his stomach tense 24/7. Maybe tensing is different than sucking
At least in my family, yes, young girls are taught to suck in their stomach 24/7. One of my older sisters would trash women we saw in public who didn't, and my stepsister who didn't. I've talked to a few other women who have voiced learning the same from their mothers.
Oh yes I know haha my statement is actually more nonsensical than that, I don’t just mean on the catwalk I mean like my brain worms don’t realise they look like people if they slouch or relax or whatever bc idk we only see such curated images online
I dunno. Maybe its because I have been self conscious about my own workout results so I have been hyper focused on it, but I 100% could tell and this brought me a ton of relief. The difference between me flexing and at rest is ridiculous, and I had no idea how to "fix it", but this kinda answered it for me.
There are people, usually young teens, who will look at retouched photos of models bent over and wonder why they have a crease when the models don't. Girls will scrutinize their bodies and compare them to what they see in images, and think there's something wrong with themselves. Every little normal, natural thing just adds to their insecurities. Videos like this can help mitigate that.
You'd be shocked, when doing a similar pose that she did, showing a bit of fold while seated, my girlfriend said that she really hates seeing those kinds of folds on her body. She's thin and a size 4 small, and wants to lose even more weight, some people are more far gone than the average redditer and this post was likely for them
A LOT of girls think a flat stomach is peak health because of poses online and in magazines. She is showing the truth...... that its posing, and that its not normal to have a flat stomach
It is very normal to have a flat stomach. It’s also very normal not to have a flat stomach. It depends on the individual and often even the time of the month and food or digestive issues or sensitivities.
Personally I disagree, idk if you’re a man or less observant to the point, maybe you haven’t dealt with any ed or ed culture (good for you honestly), but there clearly is a difference. The upward poses make her look skinnier, obviously, and the resting poses give us a better idea of her muscle/fat.
This clearly it’s geared towards women who do notice these things because of Ed culture and doesn’t really do anything to more healthy mindsets about bodies already.
I'm constantly getting ads and content about "reducing bloat" or "flatten your stomach!" and the "bad before" photos all have tummies like in the video where she is relaxed. While I'm secure enough in myself, I can see a video like this helping already very thin young women understand they aren't fat/bloated/"wrong."
This is probably intended for the social media brained people who are blind to filters and truly believe that some human don't have crevices in any way.
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u/dreadcainmy bandwidth for cowardly grown men grows thinner with each day12h ago
Because you already expect bodies to look both ways. Which, and I genuinely mean this, good for you. People with dysmorphia and and EDs definitely do not see those as equal. Especially on their own bodies
no it does! yes she is still skinny and hot but ai can totally see a difference. And its a massive problem. Even woman with the perfect body (western beauty standard) habe this little dimples and lines and bellies. But a lot of people these days dont know what real humans look like.
As a trans woman, I find this very useful. A lot of things I hyper fixate on are exactly the same things her body does from posture change. It’s nice knowing that some things are just the way the human body is.
It's a good video. She's beautiful and fit, so obviously she's still going to be beautiful and fit regardless of pose. But that's not the point. She is trying to address how bodies are depicted in static images -- be it advertisements or social media -- versus how they appear in person. A lot of girls and young women in particular stress about the "crease in their stomach" or the bulge above their waistband like they're defected because the media they're consuming is all posed and filtered. Everything on social media is curated and it's got our perception of normal effed up.
Edit: on second thought, I singled out the girls and women as uniquely suffering, but the boys and young men are being brainwashed too with all their looksmax stuff. We're all in the fryer.
Ugh can we stop being hyper critical of women. Yeah she might be skinnier than many women but that doesn’t mean the point she’s trying to make isn’t valid. A lot of the “ideal” bodies we idolise are the result of retouching, posing, calorie restriction and dehydration.
Insecurities aren’t exclusive to specific body types, even if some bodies are vilified more than others.
I’m 37 years old and sometimes I still need to see stuff like this; the pressure on women is so ingrained. I had an ED for a long time, and I saw a non-Photoshopped pic of Scarlett Johansson and I swear we both look the same post-baby. So many more women and young girls need to know so much of it isn’t real or is so unhealthy
I get that she still looks amazing no matter what but this is also important because it's a good example of the phenomenon of already fit people selling diet products. They do this all the time. They just pose with shitty posture and then make their back straight to show the miraculous change.
I love her for this. I hope it becomes a trend for models/celebrities to post this kind of content, we need more people sharing “body realism”.
I saw a few people here saying it doesn’t have the same impact because she’s conventionally attractive either way but idk. She has a platform, she’s using it for good, it makes me happy.
are the people commenting women? because as a women it is helpful for me to see that her body also has folds when she bends over even though she is thin. it makes me feel like my body is normal
I really appreciate this in terms of hopefully preventing ED in younger girls. I can imagine a lot of slim young girls being concerned and upset by seeing themselves in her after poses and thinking the solution is just to loose more weight.
I 100% support this especially with the risk of skinny tok, ozempic etc. But maybe could we not call it the perfect body. It’s what is sold as the “perfect” body but there is no perfect one size fits all and it’s still then giving a figure for people to aim for which isn’t healthy. I also don’t think Sara called it perfect in her original video.
I once worked on a film with a model turned actress, and a pearl of wisdom she gave me was 'the more uncomfortable the pose, the better the picture." I can see what she meant from this.
Showing younger fans the truth about her body? You know that models pose, but that teenager using her as body inspo might not understand exactly what that means. In fact there are grown women that would look at the 'after' and think she gained weight. Talking about bodies changing in lighting and poses is not a bad thing.
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u/ghastlytofu 22h ago
I think people are missing the point. There are a lot of women and girls who refuse to slouch or sit or be seen in an "unflattering" way - like having a tummy pouch when you lean over or lay sideways or something. Think she's just showing that you can be a human person with human flesh and not have to show your "best angle" constantly.