Live Life Unfiltered: the social media movement that reflects the truth
Sisters and Bishop’s University students Teagan and Keisha Simpson want to provoke change on social media. Live Life Unfiltered is a movement designed to remind young women that behind every perfect picture and story on Instagram there is still a person dealing with her struggles and insecurities. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we met with Teagan and Keisha to learn more about the dynamic duo and their wonderful initiative.
How did you start the movement ‘Live Life Unfiltered’?
Keisha: I have an insecurity about the way my legs look. I think they look very big. I realized that Instagram was affecting my self-esteem because I was comparing my legs with every other girl’s legs. I deleted the application. Removing social media from my life was short-lived because I downloaded Instagram a week later. But instead of focusing on accounts that would trigger my insecurities, I decided to follow accounts related to body positivity. Unfortunately, what I saw online only focused on the generic message of how perfect we are, no matter what we look like. Being told you are beautiful doesn’t actually make you feel pretty. The message is nice, but insufficient.
Teagan: Like the ‘Aerie Real’ or ‘Dove Real Beauty’ campaigns.
Keisha: Yes. I then noticed that what brought understanding to my own self-esteem issues was to hear from people who I thought are beautiful that shared their own insecurities. It made me understand that everyone can feel this way. I began searching for social media channels that shared similar stories but couldn’t find any. I thought that this was something we could initiate on our own.
What inspired you to start the movement ‘Live Life Unfiltered’?
Teagan: We were both tired of comparing ourselves with other people on social media and we realized that what we saw on social wasn’t always real. We knew other people that also came to the same conclusion. We felt like enough is enough.
With the continuous growth of the movement, what do you think is the next step?
Teagan: We would love Live Life Unfiltered to go viral to reach out to as many women as possible.
Keisha: Having one person posting something about their insecurities is helpful but having a bigger community on board would create such a big impact on individuals.
Teagan: It would be cool to havea celebrity/influencer on board like Lili Reinhart (Riverdale) or Whitney Wolf, creator of Bumble.
Keisha: Whitney Wolf’s story is really inspiring. She works really hard and promotes women empowerment.
Teagan: Lili Reinhart has recently come out of dealing with depression and anxiety and frequently talks about it on Instagram. She openly talks about going to therapy and her body insecurities. She’s also a great ambassador of sharing stories in a true, unfiltered light.
What is your favourite Bishop’s moment?
Keisha: One of my favourite moments is going to Principal Goldbloom’s house during Orientation Week. I remember telling my parents about how cool our principal was to sing the school song with us. I also love the Donald Lecture Series. I remember one evening, one of the speakers asked if we knew the school song and everyone just started to chant. It is amazing to see how everybody knew all the words. There is Bishop’s pride everywhere.
How did your Bishop’s experience contributed towards the creation of Live Life Unfiltered?
Teagan: Our professors helped us a lot through the process. They are so very welcoming. And FYI – 90% of our professors know our names since the beginning of our Bishop’s experience! We also took an entrepreneurship course with Dr. Susan Reid that was quite helpful. The one thing she always emphasized on was to have a vision!
Keisha: Sometimes we sat down with our mentors for 3 hours. That’s how generous they are.
Teagan: Everyone at Bishop’s wants you to succeed. There’s a sense of community where students can feel comfortable enough to ask for guidance and support.
To learn more about Live Life Unfiltered, follow the movement on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livelife_unfiltered/
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I think we should definitely reduce social media in our lives.