• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • News
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Arts & Fashion
  • Photography
  • Health & Lifestyle
  • Cainte
  • Sports
  • Archives
    • Volume 24: 2022-23
    • Volume 23: 2021-22
    • Volume 22: 2020-21
    • Volume 21: 2019-20
    • Volume 20: 2018-19
    • Volume 19: 2017-18
    • Volume 18: 2016-17
    • Volume 17: 2015-16
    • Volume 16: 2014-15
    • Volume 15: 2013-14
    • Volume 14: 2012-13
    • Volume 13: 2011-12
  • About
    • Get Involved
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy

Student Independent News

NUI Galway Student Newspaper

Roz Purcell shares her insecurities in powerful Instagram post about body image

November 10, 2018 By SIN Staff

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Reminder that this is the highlight reel 🌸🌸🌸 We see one angle & usually with the best light. It’s human nature to pick the best picture of ourselves & for a split second seeing the second one I’m like ”delete that”😂 but I’m ok with having my little dimples and rolls it’s real life & I’ve never been happier. I’m aware my back isn’t perfect but it doesn’t stop me wearing a bikini & not giving a ***k, I used to cringe thinking people we’re looking and focusing on it like I did & hated wearing swimwear, but if they do look and judge it’s really their own problem. Ps. 99% of all pics taken in the sea look like no.3👉🏻 that tide was strong 🤡 All pics taken on an iPhone & I used vsco v5 ❤️

A post shared by ROZ PURCELL (@rozannapurcell) on Oct 15, 2018 at 10:09am PDT


By Veronica Murphy

Scrolling, scrolling, scrolling: it’s addictive. You know you could be doing much more productive things with your time, but you’re stuck. There are few who haven’t been sucked into Instagram’s deep, dark hole of gawking at the lives of those who seem to have it all.

The perfect face, the enviable body, the endless getaways to the other side of the globe. Instagram is all about projecting your best moments, best angles and best self to the world. We continue to follow the footsteps of these people, be it celebrities or those who just appear more fortunate than us. But how does this really make us feel? The constant comparing is mentally exhausting.

A few weeks ago, Irish model turned fitness/health guru Roz Purcell uploaded an image to Instagram that garnered quite a bit more attention than her usual posts of recipes from her Natural Born Feeder book, or photos of her flaunting her gym gear.

The series of shots show firstly the perfect picture, the “Instagram worthy” shot. Swipe left, and she shows us the ones deemed by society as not good enough. Unposed as she frolics on the beach. She looks less like her picture – perfect self, and more like any one of us.

Her caption promotes a powerful message to everyone out there who finds it difficult to separate real life from life online. She reiterates; “this is the highlight reel.” Sometimes we may forget the 50 other pictures that came before the perfect shot. We show our best angle, we get the best lighting possible and even then that doesn’t seem to be good enough.

We then resort to filters and editing apps like Facetune and VSCO. It may be hard to believe when looking at Roz that she too can have her insecurities. She admits to having struggled with body image for most of her life during her modelling years. Conscious of her dimples and rolls, she has learned to acquire a “f*** it” attitude that I think we could all do with taking on.

I myself have followed Roz on Instagram for quite a while now, something about her just felt like a breath of fresh air, she felt a lot more authentic and genuine compared to some of the others on the app.

Unlike many of the big stars with perfect bodies on Instagram who promote weight loss teas and supplements that do more harm than good, just to make themselves a few extra bob, Roz has written her own recipe book, full to the brim of simple and most importantly healthy meals.

Roz is a force to be reckoned with, not afraid to hit back at the body shamers and doing things a little differently. If your Instagram feed is making you feel bad about yourself, do your mental health a favour and declutter.

If scrolling through your feed only makes you feel bad about yourself, you’re doing Instagram wrong. We are all too wrapped up in the social media bubble, filtering not only our photos, but also our true selves to conform to society’s ideals.

 

SIN Staff
+ posts
  • SIN Staff
    https://sin.ie/author/sin-admin-2/
    Vice President – Welfare and Equality Officer Candidate: Izzy Tiernan
  • SIN Staff
    https://sin.ie/author/sin-admin-2/
    Leas UachtarĂĄn don Ghaeilge Candidate: Faye NĂ­ Dhomhnaill
  • SIN Staff
    https://sin.ie/author/sin-admin-2/
    Leas Uachtarán don Ghaeilge Candidate: Seánie Ó Gáibhín
  • SIN Staff
    https://sin.ie/author/sin-admin-2/
    Student Speak

Related

Filed Under: Health & Lifestyle, Health and Fitness Tagged With: Body image, Instagram, Rozanna Purcell, Veronica Murphy

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Read our latest issue:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 SIN Student Newspaper. All rights reserved.