Beauty influencers have a way with both cameras and poses. They create the picture-perfect bodies — or so it seems. Body positive influencers, like Australian swimwear designer, Karina Irby , have mastered how to reposition their clothing to create the illusion of a slimmer figure. However, Irby wants to show people that her body is different depending on the angle of the camera and the fit of her clothes. Sometimes she shows off her relaxed tummy, other times she keeps it in — each time she reflects a real part of herself.
Irby keeps it real.
Some influencers only post the glamorous pictures that get high scores in the beauty standards department, but not in the real department. However, Irby is comfortable enough in her own body to go from IG perfection to natural woman curviness in an Instagram post. She embraces everything she can be in front of the camera and has fun showing each of her bathing suit looks.
She captioned the post with “NOT A BEFORE AND AFTER. Just a reminder to both women and men that female bodies can look like both, and it’s totally healthy and normal.” She goes on to write that it’s time to stop comparing one side of ourselves to another and for men to see women in all of their forms. For her, it’s all about being kind to our bodies.
She knows how to strike all the right poses.
Even though Irby isn’t making drastic changes to her body, she gets a new look in only five minutes when she changes poses. She captioned this Instagram post with, “Point is, we all look different when we’re not striking a pose or turning it on for the camera. So next time you’re scrolling your feed comparing yourself to someone’s posed pic just remember… It’s posed.” She suggests that instead of striving for unattainable body standards, people may want to learn how to strike the pose that works for me, and remember that their bodies are worthy in all forms.
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Her body positivity is inspiring.
When posting more of her pictures that celebrate her body in different lights, Irby wrote, “What you see online compared to how I’d look if you walked past me on the beach.
Snapping content is all about angles! And this is a prime example! These pics were taken 5 minutes apart and I look like two different people! I love both versions.” While she looks like two people with different body shapes next to each other, she sees both as vital parts of her.
She’s working to normalize bloated bodies.
For many women, periods mean lots of uncomfortable bloating. It can be embarrassing and shameful for women and girls to have others see their bloating bodies, but Irby wants to point out how natural it’s for all bodies to bloat. She does a playful dance in her bathing suit to show her puffed up stomach and writes, “Well it’s the time in my lady cycle where the bloating says HIIIIIIIIIII. Instead of letting it make me feel insecure and wanting to cover up, I’ve done what I do best and thrown on a bikini and shown it off.” It sounds like Irby is full of self-love.
Her followers adore her.
With 1.2 million followers, Irby continues to receive all the love. As a swimwear designer and body positivity advocate that combines self-love with style, people are endlessly impressed. With comments, like, “OBSESSED,” and “Iconic,” people are doting over her body representation and designer life.
Sadly, there are haters, too.
Unfortunately, fatphobia and other body shaming comments have crept into Irby’s life, including her social media. In fact, she’s posted about being inundated with hateful direct messages on Instagram. They’ve included people wanting to watch her “get sick and die” and telling her to “lose weight.” The list of hatefulness goes on. She used this as an opportunity to call out bullying, writing, “Bullying is NEVER ok” after telling others that experience bullying that they deserve better.
She’s honest about editing some photos.
While she doesn’t hide the way her body looks in pictures, Irby does care about how her pictures look. She enjoys using color filters and going from “cute, posed photos” to “raw, potato-style content.” Tired of people trying to police her looks, she wrote, “This says that, because I promote reality and normality and, to be honest, posting content where I don’t LOOK good to make others FEEL good, I’m not allowed to post something where I look good?” Irby seems like an unapologetic take her or leave her person that chooses herself every time.
Some think Irby is unhealthy.
Some people have apparently decided that they’re her doctors and that Irby’s body mass index is too “large,” meaning she has too much “fat” on her body. One Instagram user named Amber even accused her of promoting unhealthy diets and lack of exercise. Of course, Irby had something to say to that, posting a video of her doing a belly bump dance in her natural bathing suit body with the caption, “Looks like I have a lot of homework to do and deep thinking about how to take care of MY body. STOP MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S HEALTH.” She also makes it clear that no one can tell her about her lifestyle, except her—-especially not a random stranger. It seems like a good idea to stay in your own lane when it comes to policing another person’s body.
It takes a toll to be so “open and raw”.
With a lot of followers, comes a lot of pressure and scrutiny. Irby got real with her followers in 2021 and wrote about the toll her “insecurities” were taking on her. One of the things she wrote was, “Being open and raw isn’t seen enough on social media and I really wish it was. It would definitely help people feel less alone with whatever they are going through.” She stopped posting for awhile, but returned to share her honest feelings on the importance of vulnerability and love.
Let us know what you think in the comments of this body posing influencer all about body positivity and if you think she’s been judged too harshly on social media.
