In between wanderlust-inducing snaps and images of avocado toast, your Instagram feed is likely littered with a slew of lithe, long-limbed gazelles, otherwise known as models.
Despite being tended to by the best hair and makeup artists money can buy, there are many things that separate us genetically inferior folk from those who end up on the cover of Vogue Italia; namely, their enviable bone structure, killer physiques, and perfect faces. Now, while many of us spend a sizeable chunk of our pay-checks attempting to emulate the look of these superior beings, it's evident that in the looks and likes obsessed society that we live in, the pressure to conform to society's conception of what is "beautiful" takes a toll on everyone.
Certainly, Victoria's Secret model, Bridget Malcolm, has spoken out about her experience with body image, and it doesn't have the positive slant that we might have expected. Malcolm, who has modelled for the likes of Polo Ralph Lauren and V Magazine, recently took to Instagram to reveal that she has been "at war" with her body.
"This girl is not fat," 26-year-old Australian model, Bridget Malcolm, wrote underneath a photograph of herself in a bathing costume. "I remember around when this photo was taken, I had been told that I needed to lose weight. Not for the first time and not for the last time."
"Always fun trying to act like you’re confident and happy in swimwear when you’re at war with your body..." she continued.
In a blog post, the model delved deeper into her body image issues, revealing that she had suffered from disordered eating from a number of years. Writing that "this post has been a long time coming," she asserted that in August, "I made myself a promise. It was time to make peace with my body. I threw away my scales, my measuring tape and my body checking. I threw away all my clothes from when I was at my smallest. I deleted all the gym selfies from my Instagram, and all of the “progress” shots from my phone."
"Basically, I wanted no point of reference any more of a time when I was smaller, or larger. I just wanted to stop looking in mirrors and telling myself that I was “too fat”, and “not doing enough."
She added that she then started to eat healthier, and attempted to stop feeling guilty for occasionally "indulging" in higher-calorie foods. This was "insanely hard to do" as she had to undo 12 whole years of being told to "tone up" and "lose weight".
"I cannot tell you how many times I went to bed with my head whirling–trying to get me to latch onto how much I ate at dinner, or during the day, or trying to convince myself to change my diet, start training hard again, start tracking my size, just start doing more. It felt like two steps forward, one and three quarters step back," the 26-year-old asserted.
Now, Bridget has decided that she's done with negative body talk. She orders what she actually wants to eat at dinner, and avoids looking in the mirror incessantly. And the best part about it is rather ironic: she's gained weight.
Explaining why this is a good thing, the model stated "I have gained weight. And I do not give a f*ck about it. My life is so much more than my jean size. And every day when that voice in my head tries to tell me I am worthless, it gets a little easier to shut it down. I am setting myself free slowly."
Fans of the model rushed to thank her for her honesty and used the platform to share their own experiences of body shaming.
In a follow-up Instagram post, Bridget wrote that she was "completely overwhelmed" by all the love she received.