before/after pics Print Editor Caitlin Barr analyses the phenomenon of the before and after picture and our tendency to celebrate the physical transformations of others. TW: BODY IMAGE. Whether you’re scrolling through Instagram, trying to navigate a website inundated with ads, or walking past a gym, seeing a before/after pic is basically inevitable. Images of people (usually women) who we’re supposed to understand as being ‘undesirable’, juxtaposed with an ‘after’ picture, in which they’ve been magically transformed to be thinner, less spotty or younger-looking, are everywhere. They could be coming from businesses hoping to sell their wares with a promise that you too will glow up as a result of using them, or people proud of a change their body has been through.
“Intentional weight loss is widely celebrated in our society, despite medical professionals saying that most diets fail to keep the weight off for much longer than a year.” The before/after picture is seen by many as inspirational - why not celebrate a physical change you’ve worked hard towards or paid a lot of money for? However, we need to analyse why exactly we celebrate physical changes, and what this says about our attitude towards people who have more in common with the ‘before’ pictures. An easy example to analyse is the weight loss image, one of the most common categories of before/after pictures. Intentional weight loss is widely celebrated in our society, despite medical professionals saying 10
that most diets fail to keep the weight off for much longer than a year (1). Many people who have lost weight feel incredibly proud of their achievement, and share images either to celebrate or to inspire others who may be on a similar weight loss ‘journey’. Perhaps you yourself have liked images like this, with captions extolling how proud a person is that they ditched their old body and now have a shiny, new, skinnier one. However, as someone who, since about the age of 12, has existed in a body larger than most of my peers, all I see when I see ‘before’ images is someone who looks like me. Someone with a large stomach, wide hips, thick thighs and a round face. Presented on its own, this image is just a picture of a human being. Juxtaposed with a photo taken a year down the line, after which the person has got rid of all of these features, the ones my body holds, it’s made clear – bodies like mine are just waiting to be made desirable. Give it a year, and even people like me can be pretty.
“Bodies like mine are just waiting to be made desirable. Give it a year, and even people like me can be pretty.” (1) https://www.nutritionist-resource.org. uk/blog/2020/10/02/why-diets-dont-work (2) https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200909-why-plastic-surgery-demand-is-booming-amid-lockdown Image: rawpixel.com