- Lili Reinhart shared an Instagram Story on Sunday that called out photo-editing and applications that alters people’s bodies and faces.
- Reinhart wrote in her Story posts that she was searching for an app to crop a photo when she came across a promotional image for the app BodyTune.
- On Instagram, the “Riverdale” and “Hustlers” actress wrote: “I implore you: do not use these kinds of apps.”
- In an email to Insider, representatives for BodyTune said: “Our BodyTune app didn’t start the photo retouching trend,” adding that its photo-editing philosophy is “use it but don’t abuse it.”
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Actress Lili Reinhart is an outspoken figure in the conversation surrounding body image in the digital era, having used her platform to speak candidly about beauty standards perpetuated by social media and the entertainment industry.
On Sunday, Reinhart shared a series of Instagram Story posts after she apparently came across a photo-editing application that showed images of women’s bodies being slimmed and altered.
Reinhart started her series of Instagram Story slides by writing: “This morning I was looking for an app that would help me resize my photos to better fit Instagram… And then I came across this app.”
She continued, sharing a screenshot of an app called BodyTune: Perfect Photo Editor from the Apple App Store. On the next slide, Reinhart wrote: "This is not okay. This is why people develop eating disorders. This is why social media has become hazardous to our health. This is why people have unrealistic expectations of their bodies."
Reinhart then called on her followers and fans to avoid using similar photo-editing apps that give the illusion of an altered body.
"I implore you: do not use these kinds of apps," she wrote.
"This is how unrealistic standards of human bodies have been created- to the point where people alter their bodies surgically to achieve unattainable results," Reinhart wrote on the next slide.
Reinhart added that "looking 'skinnier' in a photo on Instagram is not worth the detrimental psychological effects."
"Our bodies should not conform to 'one size fits all,'" she continued.
Reinhart then called on her followers to avoid encouraging people's use of photo-editing.
"People who use these apps and alter their bodies are clearly suffering from low self esteem, body dysmorphia, or other mental health problems. My heart goes out to those people who feel like their bodies aren't good enough. But please don't encourage this behavior," she wrote.
Foto: Lili Reinhart shared this message on her Instagram Story.sourceLili Reinhart/Instagram
The actress completed her Instagram Story, writing: "Once you alleviate yourself of the pressure to conform to FAKE/UNREAL standards... the world is a lot brighter. I promise you."
Representatives for BodyTune told Insider in an email that the app creators didn't start the photo-editing trend; "it always existed"
"All these Instagram models pay big money to photographers to retouch their photos, BodyTune just makes the game fair by giving people the same powers without spending a fortune on professional retouchers," representatives for the app said in an email.
The team continued, writing: "'Use it but don't abuse it.' - is clearly stated on the app's website. The team behind the app has also build a meditation app and a book summaries app in the past, that didn't get that much traction, because we live in a visual world. Isn't it funny that Lili Reinhart encourages people to stop using our app, while she found BodyTune by searching for a photo editing app herself?"
Reinhart has previously spoken about body image and unrealistic standards of beauty as a celebrity
The actress has established herself as a prominent figure advocating for body-positivity on social media, in Hollywood, and beyond. At Glamour's 2018 Women of the Year Summit, Reinhart spoke about struggling with her own body image and battling with unattainable standards imposed on her by the entertainment industry.
"It felt unfair to think that I would never have an industry perfect body, just because I wasn't genetically built a certain way," she said at the event.
She added: "Do not set impossible goals of meeting those fake standards. It's unrealistic to think that your body or my body will ever look like anyone else's."
Also, in a 2018 interview with Julie Kosin from Harper's Bazaar, Reinhart said: "I choose my battles now. If it's something that I'm passionate about, I'm going to talk about it. I'm going to say that I don't approve of our president, I'm going to say that I don't approve of a lingerie line only having skinny models."
"I'm not that flawless image person. I could never live up to that. I'm not going to make people think I'm this airbrushed version of myself. There are lots of versions of me," Reinhart said in the same interview.
Reinhart faced criticism for one of her comments shared along with her Harper's Bazaar interview, where she said that she found Marilyn Monroe's figure "inspiring."
"Marilyn Monroe was a curvy girl: she had boobs and she didn't have a 24-inch waist. To me that's really inspiring and makes me feel like my body can be accepted," Reinhart said, as quoted in a tweet from Harper's Bazaar.
Several Twitter users responded to the tweet of Reinhart's mention of Marilyn Monroe, arguing that Reinhart already does have a body that's typically deemed as acceptable, according to mainstream beauty standards.
Reinhart then responded in a Twitter thread, saying: "Feeling really disheartened by the fact that so many people are saying 'you're skinny so shut up about embracing [sic] your body.' As if my body dysmorphia is irrelevant because of how I look to some people. I'm either not curvy enough or not skinny enough to feel insecure."
Representatives for Lili Reinhart did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call NEDA's Helpline (1-800-931-2237) on weekdays for support, resources, and information about treatment options. In crisis situations, NEDA offers 24/7 support - just text "NEDA" to 741-741.
- Read more:
- Lili Reinhart almost quit acting to become a makeup artist. Now, she's starring on 'Riverdale' and in 'Hustlers.'
- 10 things you probably didn't know about Lili Reinhart
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