An influencer is being applauded for revealing the drastic differences that posing and editing can make as she puts her natural body on display.
Danae Mercer Ricci has gained 2.3 million followers on Instagram. However, unlike many influencers, she didn’t do it with deceptive thirst traps — instead, she exposes the reality behind those perfectly posed snaps.
The journalist-turned-activist is known online for spreading body positivity and recently welcomed her first child.
Ricci has continued sharing her self-love journey online as her body has changed through pregnancy and becoming a mother.
She recently posted a series of photos showing the difference between being posed, edited and relaxed.
The photo series shows three slightly different versions of Ricci modeling a light blue matching workout set. In one photo she’s perfectly posed and flexing with her leggings pulled up high only showing off her upper abs and making the rest of her body look slim and toned.
In another, she’s taken the posed photo and edited it to give her a slightly smaller waist, brighter highlights, more makeup and better lighting.
Finally, Ricci shows a relaxed photo of herself simply kneeling upright and smiling naturally as the folds of her outfit and body are on full display looking drastically different than the other two photos.
The journalist-turned-activist speaks candidly about her experience with eating disorders and shares encouraging messages with her followers. Jam Press/@danaemercerIn another collage of photos in the post, Ricci shows herself in the same light blue matching set.
She is posed in the same way in each of the four photos but three of them have been edited to make her look slightly skinnier, blonder and more done up.
“Only one of these is real,” she wrote on the photo collage.
The other images in the post are a mix of empowering tweets and messages and several other natural versus posed pictures.
“When I was healing from my eating disorder, my therapist recommended something that I still do today. Whenever I put lotion on, I should say kind things to my body. It felt silly then. It still feels a bit silly now. But it helps. Because the words we say to ourselves, they form pathways – like little roads in our mind. And over time, those roads become stronger, more concrete, easier to go down,” she captioned the photo.
Ricci often shows the subtle ways that people can alter how their body looks through posing and editing tricks. Jam Press/@danaemercer
She’s always sure to compare the polished photo to her candid shots. Jam Press/@danaemercer“When it comes to self-love, we often have to create new routes, build new bridges. So we start small. We start with positive words.”
Ricci explained that she’s been taking extra care of her body and has been especially kind to her body as it’s continued to change since giving birth last month.
“I hold my tummy and say ‘powerful’ and ‘strong’ and ‘home’. I touch my thighs and think ‘capable’ and ‘supportive,’” she continued.
“I focus on self-love. And today, maybe this little post will help remind you to focus on self-love too. Even if it feels a bit silly, even if you’re not sure it works.'”
The influencer works to inspire others to accept their natural bodies and understand the difference between social media posts and reality. Jam Press/@danaemercerShe explained that “over time, words become habits, and you, darling soul, deserve self-kindness that feels natural.”
“You deserve all the kind words in the world. Your body does too,” Ricci reminded her followers.
The post racked up 75,400 likes on Instagram and hundreds of comments as women flooded the post with grateful and encouraging messages.
Many of Ricci’s followers are appreciative of her authenticity and thank her for honesty.
“That is really inspiring, I for sure need to start doing this too! We give ourselves such a hard time sometimes but ultimately our bodies are amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing!” _Yasmeen.c wrote.
“I appreciate you & what you are sharing so much!!! what a message to share,” boa-music said.
“Not silly at all it’s empowering & liberating to be kind to our bodies in a world/society which feeds into us hating ourselves so much that we’ll pay for anything and do anything to carve/sculpt ourselves into the ‘acceptable’ versions….” love___laura replied.
“Thank you for sharing things like this. EDs are hard to navigate and I really want to try this tips,” the_om_inme commented.
Ricci often speaks openly about her past struggles with eating disorders and uses her platform to reveal the tricks that clothing, posing and editing so many people and companies use to disguise real bodies on social media.
The rise of social media has correlated with an increase in eating disorders and mental health struggles impacting users of all identities — but other influencers are joining Ricci to help push back against the dark side of social media.
If you or someone you know struggles with an eating disorder, visit the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) website or call their hotline at (800)-931-2237 to get help.
