This Fitness Star Just Posted An Unfiltered Butt Selfie For The Most Inspiring Reason

Fitness blogger Karina Irby wants people with “angry skin” to know they’re not alone. On Thursday, the 28-year-old swimwear designer posted an un-retouched shot of her butt to Instagram, eczema and cellulite and all. The goal? To show her more than 740,000 followers that nobody’s perfect.

“This photo is hard for me to post,” Karina wrote in the caption, explaining that one of her 2018 goals is to normalise the common things people deal with on a daily basis but feel ashamed about—which, for her, means cellulite and eczema (a skin condition where skin becomes itchy, red, and inflamed). “I wanted to share this image showing off my angry skin and cellulite to help raise awareness that THIS IS NORMAL. I want to help love and support other angry skin suffers that are covering up, feeling self conscious and even being bullied that they’re not alone.”

This photo is hard for me to post… One of my goals this year is to create normality to a few seriously common things people world wide are dealing with day to day. For me this is eczema and cellulite, and together they’re not the most flattery combo??‍♀️ I wanted to share this image showing off my angry skin and cellulite to help raise awareness that THIS IS NORMAL. I want to help love and support other angry skin suffers that are covering up, feeling self conscious and even being bullied that they’re not alone?‍?‍?‍??‍?‍? I’ve been there, and I’m still dealing and accepting my skin every single day. Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of DM’s from eczema suffers all around the world giving me their personal advice and even saying thank you for sharing. Instead of the DM’s please comment below your questions, advice or anything you like that may help another in need. And more importantly, to prove to someone else that eczema is common, and they’re alone and shouldn’t feel uncomfortable and singled out. When I was a teenager I felt so alienated, unhappy and self conscious. I felt so alone and that no one knew what I had to deal with every day. Little did I know I had an entire community behind me, I just needed time to grow and realise it. So for all those young people out there that may be feeling the same… I got you’re back❤️

A post shared by KARINA?IRBY (@karinairby) on Jan 25, 2018 at 1:40am PST

Karina went on to say that she’s recently received a number of direct messages from other people with eczema, offering encouragement and advice. Expressing her appreciation for that support, she asked people to instead leave their thoughts directly in the comments where everyone could see them for solidarity.

“When I was a teenager I felt so alienated, unhappy, and self conscious. I felt so alone and that no one knew what I had to deal with every day,” she continued. “Little did I know I had an entire community behind me, I just needed time to grow and realise it. So for all those young people out there that may be feeling the same… I got you’re [sic] back.”

Karina consistently makes a point of being transparent about her image. In September, for example, she posted a side-by-side photo to Instagram featuring her body before and after extensive retouching. She called the latter the “Insta girl edit.”

With their smiles so big I can just stand there like a big doofus. I don’t know why people keep asking me when I’m going to have children? I already have three ???

A post shared by KARINA?IRBY (@karinairby) on Jan 27, 2018 at 3:14am PST

“Ladies, I’m not here to play mean girl towards others,” she wrote. “I simply want to #inspire you to love yourself and stop comparing yourselves to unrealistic images online. Look out for the signs of the ‘Insta Girl Edit’ and don’t take social media too seriously.”

When we exist primarily online, though, it’s hard to ignore the images we see, however unrealistic they might be. It’s helpful, then, that Karina and her ilk make a point of reminding followers that the internet heavily filters reality. Last January, fitness blogger Anna Victoria posted a similar side-by-side shot to Instagram, captioning it “Me 1% of the time vs. 99% of the time.” The “99%” had stomach rolls, which Victoria said she loved just as much as her rare flat abs. “Good or bad angles don’t change your worth,” she added.

Cheers to that.

This article originally appeared on Women’s Health US

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