This Instagram Page That Shows Half-Naked Women Is the Most Inspiring Account Out There

Samantha Lauriello
Updated

As you scroll past photo after photo of seemingly flawless bodies every day, it can feel like Instagram is setting you up to be critical of yourself. But what if we told you about one page that’s changing that—one place where you can find inspiration from real people of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds? Cue @theeverybodybeautystandard, your one-stop shop for body-positivity.

People from all walks of life submit their self-love stories to @theeverybodybeautystandard along with photos of their bodies. Their mission? To redefine the meaning of beauty and encourage body-positivity “one story at a time.” They're also sharing their stories to let others know they’re not alone on their own journeys.

One of them is @iamzainabmohammed, who uses a prosthetic foot on her left leg.

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“I have struggled with every kind of positivity I can think of, from body-positivity to mental positivity, ever since I realized I was different from everyone. I will not say that I am all the way there yet or completely happy with the way I look, but I can say that I am trying. Every day is a challenge, but I did not expect it to be easy. The fact that I’m trying in the first place shows that I am taking steps toward being positive every day, and I am grateful for that. Although I have a lot of insecurities, I will be as brave as all the others (who I’ve witnessed bare themselves naked for everyone to see) in order to help me become more comfortable with myself and to finally reach self-actualization. I will no longer battle with my real self (who I am) and my ideal self (who I want to be). Instead, I will find balance — I will accept myself and grow every day, because that is all I can do.” - Model @iamzainabmohammed, Photo: @iamzainabmohammed #bodypositive

A post shared by Share Your Story Below! 18+ (@theeverybodybeautystandard) on Aug 22, 2018 at 8:46am PDT

“I have struggled with every kind of positivity I can think of, from body-positivity to mental positivity, ever since I realized I was different from everyone,” she wrote. “I will no longer battle with my real self (who I am) and my ideal self (who I want to be). Instead, I will find balance—I will accept myself and grow every day, because that is all I can do.”

Like this one, many of the stories on @theeverybodybeautystandard tell of a person who struggles with self-acceptance but is also determined to celebrate their beauty.

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“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been thinking, ‘When I lose weight, I’ll be happy,’ ‘When I lose weight, someone will finally want me,’ ‘When I lose weight, I’ll finally be accepted.’ I lost a lot of weight not too long ago by working out really hard and not eating enough. After being close to reaching my goal weight (that I had back then), I hurt my back. After that, I was happy if I could even go for a walk because there was no way I could continue working out as before. I started to gain weight again and continued with the if’s and when’s, and then the anxiety made me eat more and more. For over a year, I was longing for when I could start working out again, when I could begin losing weight again. A few weeks ago I’d had enough — enough of all the self-hatred, enough of spending so much time thinking about when I could get back to losing weight. I realized that the only one suffering from all of that was myself, that I only had things to gain if I tried to start loving and accepting myself. So here I am, finally starting to not always think ‘when...’ and instead live in the now and love all of me. I don’t know when my back problems will end, but that’s OK, because losing weight isn’t everything. I’m damn beautiful anyways!” - Model @baranikki, Photo: @baranikki

A post shared by Share Your Story Below! 18+ (@theeverybodybeautystandard) on May 6, 2018 at 11:29am PDT

Another story comes from @baranikki. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been thinking, ‘When I lose weight, I’ll be happy,’ ‘When I lose weight, someone will finally want me,’ ‘When I lose weight, I’ll finally be accepted,’” she wrote. “So here I am, finally starting to not always think ‘when...’ and instead live in the now and love all of me.”

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This is a problem a lot of us run into. We get caught up thinking everything would be easier if we looked a certain way, but our looks aren’t responsible for our happiness—our mindset is.

That’s the idea @memoirofkiki talks about in her post: “I made the executive decision to love myself. I promise you, there are times when that isn’t easy—but then I look at myself and realize how beautiful and extraordinary I am, even if some other people don't believe so.”

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“I made the executive decision to love myself. I promise you, there are times when that isn’t easy — but then I look at myself and realize how beautiful and extraordinary I am, even if some other people don't believe so. We all have a natural need to want to belong, but if my body doesn't belong, I don't want to conform. Self-love only changes and improves with my self-concept, not with other peoples’ beliefs about my health or the definition of what they believe is ‘beauty.’ YOU make the decision to love YOURSELF or to work to make yourself what you dream of being. It's all about you, no one else controls your self-worth. Own it.” - Model @memoirofkiki, Photo: @usfjrain

A post shared by Share Your Story Below! 18+ (@theeverybodybeautystandard) on Mar 24, 2018 at 5:13am PDT

She went on to say she refuses to let society have power over her body. “We all have a natural need to want to belong, but if my body doesn't belong, I don't want to conform,” she wrote.

She’s right. We all want to fit in, but we have to be aware of when our trying to fit in is actually forcing ourselves to sacrifice a part of who we are. That’s what @theeverybodybeautystandard is all about—making people feel like they belong no matter what they look like.

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