Though it’s long been a platform that provokes feelings of inadequacy, comparison and negative self-talk, Instagram users have rapidly begun to take back their body positivity, one post at a time.
It’s no wonder there are so many women who struggle with their body image. Society effectively force-feeds us this destructive battle of self-criticism, and an inherent need to strive for impossible beauty standards.
In an effort to shatter everything we know about body image, author and speaker Robbie Tripp took to Instagram this week with a praise-worthy body-positive message for his “curvy” wife, Sarah.
Along with a sweet photo of he and his bride on the beach, Robbie started by saying, “I love this woman and her curvy body.”
While it’s usually women who struggle more—if not more openly—with body image, Robbie admits that as a teenager, he was often made fun of for being attracted to “chubby” women.
“I was often teased by my friends for my attraction to girls on the thicker side, ones who were shorter and curvier, girls that the average (basic) bro might refer to as ‘chubby’ or even ‘fat.’”
Through growing up and becoming a man, however, Robbie quickly made the connection that body image issues go far beyond just negative self-talk and insecure females.
“Then, as I became a man and started to educate myself on issues such as feminism and how the media marginalizes women by portraying a very narrow and very specific standard of beauty (thin, tall, lean) I realized how many men have bought into that lie.”
Talking about his wife, who’s a fashion blogger, the 26-year-old says, “There is nothing sexier than this woman right here: thick thighs, big booty, cute little side roll, etc. Her shape and size won’t be the one featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan but it’s the one featured in my life and in my heart.”
