This is the female equivalent of guys getting photographed with a tiger for their Tinder profiles: posing with a giant ice cream cone that you aren't going to eat next to the Eiffel Tower or some shit. It's supposed to "prove" that aspirationally you can eat junk food and still be a skinny fashion blogger... but what it really "proves" is that people who use aspirational photos on social media all the time are fake and shallow.

Fascinating how social media brings out inauthenticity in some people.

Well, two things:

1) This article talks about how female-oriented photobloggers basically take these photos because they get so many clicks! Their A/B testing has clearly demonstrated that their audience (other women) WANT to see the fantasy of eating junk and yet being thin/fashionable. So they are basically giving the people what they want. This kind of traditional female fantasy is why I find Pinterest so creepy, BTW.

2) A friend who is very smart and not a fake person, but has this type of Instagram account, told me once that he is deliberately choosing to highlight only the best and most glamorous parts of his life. He owned it, and I was OK with it. He does eat the cupcake though... but he basically runs a marathon afterwards.

Thanks for the clarification.

It does seem like by only showing positive things and by also showing skinny yet junk food, they're really doing their part to make more people miserable for not being able to achieve those impossible goals (positive all the time + eat junk but stay healthy).

Joyce had the best word: fantasy. 

Adam had the second best: inauthenticity.

Thanks Jared. Which one is more applicable depends on the poster.

Just because you can, does not mean you should. right?

That's right. More often than not, we should not.