Real Housewives of New York alumni, Bethenny Frankel is one celebrity that has never been afraid to share her thoughts with fans on social media. Whether it’s sharing her favorite drugstore makeup product or announcing her new line of swimwear, Frankel has always been an open book. Now, the star is opening up and getting real about unrealistic body image standards for women in hopes of fighting these harmful ideologies.
Last night, Frankel posted a slideshow of photos of her in a bikini to illustrate to fans the danger of photoshopping on social media. The slideshow started with a photoshopped image of Frankel—her waist noticeably tiny—followed by the unedited photo and then a side by side. “This is NOT what I look like and you know that bc I’m not vain and show you the real me,” Frankel candidly said in the caption, “but, if I posted a version of this every day you might start to believe that it might be. This is just how distorted this has all gotten” she shared.
Frankel’s words highlight the dangers of both believing everything you see online and of enforcing unrealistic beauty standards. “Filtering is lying: it is deceptive. It makes women feel badly about themselves,” she goes on. “It makes young girls insecure and obsessed with an unattainable perfection. It makes middle aged women and mothers feel insecure about themselves. This creates a false ideal for men. It’s the opposite of inspirational. It’s destructive. It’s irresponsible.”
Frankel’s honest insta caption is not the first time the star has aired her thoughts on society’s obsession with looking good. This past July, she shared with her TikTok audience that “staying thin” has never been her priority. “I don’t exercise. I do what I can, when I can,” she explains. “I’ll snowboard if I can, I’ll surf if I can. I’ll walk on the beach… but I choose sleep first. Sleep is the number one priority, and being happy is the number one priority.”
In the age of social media, it is easy for women of all ages to get bogged down in trying to achieve the impossible, celebrity beauty standards. When times get tough and insecurities arise, we could all benefit from adapting Frankel’s outlook on life and shift our focus to what really matters: feeling our best.
