On 1st of July 2021 Pinterest announced that they were making big changes as the company embraces body acceptance with a new ad policy. Pinterest has taken the big step of changing social media towards more body acceptance and saying goodbye to diet culture and toxic messages about body shape, size and weight. As a coach that works with women to improve their body acceptance and self worth, this is welcome news.
I love Pinterest, it’s such a wholesome and inspirational space when you curate your boards and pins to the things that light your soul.Pinterest is my virtual vision board. It is packed with inspiring art, empowering quotes, elements of my dream home, vacation spots I will visit and styling ideas. It’s a happy place to be but like all spaces, it is infiltrated with adverts aimed at women, preying on those of us who just don’t feel good about ourselves.
Body acceptance doesn’t generate revenue
I have a sizable following on my personal YouTube channel (You can find my Emotional Eating Coach one here) and I am frequently contacted by companies wanting to sponsor my videos. Some of them are just bizarre (caffeine mints, anyone?). Some are relevant to the topic of my channel but they always have the underlying message of “this product will help you lose weight”. These companies clearly never saw even one video of mine. I know this because I always reiterate my belief that food is the key to weight loss. I advocate for supplements like vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and collagen protein to maximise health. Not once have I ever and nor will I ever accept sponsorship from companies for products I don’t believe in.
Fix the women
The message is the same. You are not ok as you are. You are too tall, too short, too average, too fat, too thin, too wide, too slim, too loud, too quiet etc. On and on we get this list of ways our bodies are failing us. Ways in which we are inadequate and a list of products that can “fix us”. Fix the women – unfortunately not a concept that is new nor is it restricted to telling us how physically we don’t meet the standards set.
This inevitably leads to a fight with our own bodies as we recognise the “flaws” and the ways that our bodies “are letting us down”. Instead of nurturing a loving relationship with our bodies, it becomes a battlefield. Each individual battle wages with the hope that eventually we will win the war and FINALLY be happy with our bodies. The truth is that this will never happen unless we start changing our mindset. That is what needs to be changed, not our bodies. The first step is forgiving yourself for the ways that you have mistreated yourself in the past. You can read more about how to do that here.
Watch the video here
Why Body Acceptance Matters
According to the Pinterest press release “Pinners are searching for “healthy mindset quotes” 13x more, and both “body neutrality” and “stop body shaming quotes” are up 5x since last year. Also searches for body acceptance quotes are up 7x and “self-love illustration art” has increased 63x”. This is amazing to see, women (they make up 80% of Pinterest users) are actively shedding the patriarchal narrative. This pervasive narrative about what a woman should look like. Finally we are starting to embrace ourselves for the glorious beings that we are and it makes my soul happy.
How do you use Pinterest? Do you use it as a virtual Vision Board like I do? Hit me up with an email and tell me, I want to hear from you!
