Vanessa Carlton Shares Heartfelt Message About Body Image On Instagram

"What you see on people's Instagrams and Facebook is never the whole picture."
Vanessa Carlton penned a heartfelt message to followers on Instagram about body image and social media.
Vanessa Carlton penned a heartfelt message to followers on Instagram about body image and social media.
Eddie Chacon

Vanessa Carlton just got real in a Holiday Inn in Portland.

The musician took to Instagram Tuesday to share a heartfelt note about body image and the deception of social media.

The "Thousand Miles" singer posted her note along with a split screen photo of her stomach. She used the dual images to prove that what you see on Instagram, or any social media platform, isn't always a true depiction of someone's life.

"Normally exposing myself like this would feel mortifying and inappropriate to me," she wrote in the caption, "but given what I've been seeing online and knowing the way young girls and boys are affected by what they see, well, I feel moved to do this."

Let's get real in this Holiday Inn in Portland. I've been wanting to do a post like this for a while. Normally exposing myself like this would feel mortifying and inappropriate to me but given what I've been seeing online and knowing the way young girls and boys are affected by what they see, well, I feel moved to do this. I'm not judging the people that want to portray themselves as beautiful, organized, perfect outfitted and skinny. (I mean I love to scroll through an organizers Instagram.) But what you see on people's instagrams and Facebook is never the whole picture. People that post photos of their bodies and faces online, have almost always taken about 9 photos in hopes of getting that perfect angle, that perfect look and then they filter it. Then you see it and you think "wow she looks amazing", meanwhile the girl that posted it is frantically checking her "likes" and comments. I've done it myself. We are all guilty. Given this little platform that I have I just want to encourage young people to take themselves out of this cycle the best they can. I'm a 35 year old woman. I'm in good shape. I can fit in a sample size sometimes. I've had a three abdominal surgeries. An appendectomy when I was 12, a tubal salpingectomy (look it up) when I was 33 and a C section at 34. If you look at the photo on the left you can see my scar. These photos aren't filtered and if I tried really hard I could make my abs look perfect and then post it online and make a bunch of young girls feel like shit about their own abs. But my abs can also look like they do on the right. I'm presenting the whole picture. I carried an over 8 pound baby for what felt like 16 months. I'd say I earn both of these shots. Excuse the lengthy message. But all you social media devotees know that life online can be adorable and funny and connected and it can also be a manifestation of deep insecurity and faux perfection. In my opinion we are beautiful when we are kind and empathetic and curious and laughing. Explore the world. Get off your damn phone. Spoken like a mom right? Ps. This is a message to myself too. So much love, Vanessa @tracyandersonmethod red pants are 🔥

A photo posted by Vanessa Carlton (@vanessacarltonactual) on

Carlton also wrote that she just wanted to use her platform to encourage people to think positively about their bodies instead of focusing on trying to be perfect.

"What you see on people's Instagrams and Facebook is never the whole picture," the 35-year-old wrote. "People that post photos of their bodies and faces online, have almost always taken about nine photos in hopes of getting that perfect angle, that perfect look and then they filter it."

She continued, "Given this little platform that I have I just want to encourage young people to take themselves out of this cycle the best they can."

The singer, who gave birth to her first child just last year, noted that she's trying to present "the whole picture." She wrote that sometimes, she fits into sample sizes, and sometimes she doesn't. Her body changes, and that's OK.

"All you social media devotees know that life online can be adorable and funny and connected and it can also be a manifestation of deep insecurity and faux perfection," she wrote. "In my opinion we are beautiful when we are kind and empathetic and curious and laughing."

And to end, she wrote, "Explore the world. Get off your damn phone."

We couldn't have said any of this better ourselves.

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Gina Rodriguez

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