Body Stories

_{Credit: ITV / Loose Women}

Body Stories: keeping it real

In 2017 Loose Women launched its award-winning body confidence campaign Body Stories, with the tagline: ‘You can look but you can’t retouch’. In as little as four years, the world has dramatically changed; filtering and editing images is more common than ever for social media users. 

Recent studies show 9 in 10 young women are editing pictures of themselves* – with many ‘depressed’ that they cannot live up to social media ideals. Another report found more than a third of girls won’t post a selfie without a filter**, and that seeing unrealistic standards of beauty can be bad for mental health. 

Loose Women viewers say this is something they as parents and grandparents are worried about too, with Loose Women’s exclusive poll revealing that 78% of parents*** are concerned about the effect edited images on social media have on their child’s body confidence. 

With the growing concern and mounting evidence about the effects of altering images online, Loose Women is taking urgent action with a new chapter of its award-winning body positivity campaign to tackle a pressing new issue affecting its viewers.

Now Loose Women’s Body Stories campaign returns with a brand new set of images, both before and after the use of body tuning apps – exploring how we can make a change to ensure there is more transparency when posting edited images on social media. 

* Survey conducted by City, University of London’s Gender and Sexualities Research Centre.

** Girlguiding annual Girls’ Attitudes survey.

*** Loose Women Twitter poll of 1,110 people.

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Let us know what you think, in the comments section below!

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Loose Women will be asking everyone to use #LWKeepItReal on social media, encouraging viewers to join the panelists in posting their unedited pictures on social media and to be honest when images have been altered.

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“When I post online I’d rather it was funny than glamorous. I want to have a laugh with people. I’m not that worried about my body anymore. It is what it is. You get to 63, and obviously I’ve got veins and cellulite, but that’s part of growing old I suppose. I don’t feel as nervous as I did for the first campaign. The reaction was just amazing last time. I’ve got the picture up in my kitchen. Loads of people were then doing their own Body Stories. It helped a lot of people.” – Linda Robson

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“By the time you go through pushing this and changing that [on an app], I can’t remember what I look like in the first place. I think it’s more important to see yourself, as yourself. Until you appreciate yourself as you, no one else will.” – Brenda Edwards

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“Body confidence for me is wrapped up in overall confidence, I think it’s all about self-esteem and if you like who you are as a person as much as everything else, then that translates to the whole package. Nobody’s perfect at the end of the day. As long as you kind of like who you are, know who you are, you’ll be fine.” – Jane Moore

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“I look at the tuned picture for this campaign and it just feels fake. Seeing that ‘before photo’, I truly have acceptance. For me, I accept what I am, so I can get on with the job of just being a woman and not distracting myself with, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got cellulite, what am I going to do?’ I can’t believe the time I’ve wasted. I had ‘stinking thinking’.” – Nadia Sawalha

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“I think it’s a really potent thing for this campaign to make people stop and think. And not just have all of these images constantly wash over us and we lose track of the fact that actually they’re not real.” – Kaye Adams

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“I don’t edit my pictures. I just go for it. I just think it’s a slippery slope. Once you start it you kind of want to see yourself looking like that all of the time. I know lots of girls do it and they enjoy it, it’s just not for me. I think about my little girl whenever I post. There’s so many posts of me looking absolutely heinous for that reason. I want people to see me, not a filtered me. If it’s first thing in the morning and I’m in the gym and I’m posting, I’m just posting what you see. I’m not filtering it. I can understand if women want to do it, for me personally, I’m alright, I’m good.” – Kelle Bryan

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“I think every day you have to give yourself a bit of credit and say as many nice things to yourself as you would horrible. It’s about trying to flip it on its head. I don’t think that for most people you’re 100% confident all of the time. It’s a work in progress and every day you’re trying to convince yourself of the things that you are, rather than the things that you’re not. We get really good at convincing ourselves about the bad things, so it’s about de-programming that mentality.” – Stacey Solomon

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“I have no problem baring my all at nearly 63 years old. I am a huge advocate of empowering women. If me posing in a bikini or bathing costume helps one person go, ‘Do you know something, she’s got a bit of cellulite, she’s got a tummy, she’s got saggy boobs, all of those things, but she’s looking after herself, and she’s getting out there’. To me, that makes me happy.” – Denise Welch

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“It’s really important to get the message out now that no one is, or ever can be, perfect. You have to learn to love the body you are in whether you’re tall, small, slim, full figured or whatever; the sexiest people are those who are full of confidence. Be a first-rate version of yourself, we only live once, it’s a shame to waste years of it wishing you could ‘look better’ as I guarantee you, one day you’ll look back at those old photos and wonder why on earth you were so tough on yourself, just like I did.” – Coleen Nolan

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“This shoot is definitely out of my comfort zone, but as a mum, I feel I have a responsibility in spreading this message and whilst I’m sure we’re all guilty of editing pictures in some way, whether through a filter or some good lighting, I hope with this campaign we can encourage everyone to be transparent, honest and keep it real on social media.” – Frankie Bridge

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