Body confidence influencer defends Khloe Kardashian's 'Insta vs Reality' photo

From Cosmopolitan

It's likely you'll have seen the recent selfie that Khloé Kardashian shared on Instagram, which saw fans call her out for overly Photoshopping her face. Those comments really ramped up after the new Keeping Up With The Kardashians trailer aired – showing the reality star on the day said photo was taken. When a Twitter user later posted a side-by-side of the image Khloé shared, next to a still from her to camera interviews, it completely blew up.

The tweet racked up over 160,000 likes and thousands of comments, which show a mix of people questioning why Khloé felt the need to use an editing app in the first place, when she's already beautiful, to others calling her out for being "fake".

Now, the very brilliant body confidence influencer, Alex Light, whose post on the Bridget Jones's Diary weight storyline made us think twice about the film, has spoken out in defence of the celebrity. Alex makes the excellent point that above all else, it's important to show kindness on the internet – something that many seem to forgo when it comes to famous faces.

"I've seen this photo doing the rounds, mostly accompanied by some snide remark or gleeful comment about how Khloé Kardashian’s been ‘caught’. Yes, it’s shocking, and yes, it creates unrealistic beauty standards for the millions for herself and for the millions of people who follow her and no, I do not condone it. But you know what? Shame is not the answer," writes Alex, to her 214,000 followers. "Especially not when shame is likely the reason this problem is even a problem in the first place."

She then pointed out that Khloé has openly discussed how she was ridiculed for being the "fat, ugly sister" and has previously received brutal treatment from both the press and social media users. "Is it any wonder her insecurities run so deep that she feels the need to edit her pictures to this extent?⁣ We live in a world where, for women, aesthetics are valued above all else – especially celebrities, their looks are their currency, their worth. And when they don’t look how society demands them to? That then becomes their identity. They are mocked and ridiculed and humiliated and singled out."
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Alex also shared an important reminder that just because somebody may appear to 'have it all' on the surface, that doesn't mean they're immune to criticism. "Khloe doesn’t deserve shame for this. This runs deep – she deserves kindness and compassion and for none of the above to have happened to her in the first place. I know what you’re thinking – why on earth should we feel sorry for someone so rich, with such an amazing life? Well, I think this picture perfectly illustrates why. This is someone deeply unhappy in herself. You can’t just money that away." Amen to that, Alex.

One follower added her thoughts to the post, writing a comment below about how those promoting unrealistic beauty standards should also be held accountable. "Bullying should never be condoned. I don’t like what I have seen at all around this picture. So nasty. However, I wonder how many girls have been subjected to bullying because they don’t match the fake ideals that Khloe and her sisters willingly promote and sell to them? Or how many girls thought this was a real picture and now want to change themselves to look like the edited version because thats what their idols did?"⁣

This is such a key example of how the pressures to appear 'perfect' online (and in person) can affect anybody – famous or not. Plus, how important it is for us as a society to place less emphasis on the way people look in general.

A big thank you to Alex for bringing this to the forefront!

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