Meet the woman behind the anonymous viral social media accounts advocating for healthy relationships

Last May, after ending an on-and-off again relationship she described as “toxic,” the 24-year-old came across an Instagram post with a simple message: “if he cared about you, he’d text you.” The message was straightforward, yet it turned out to be exactly what she needed — a reminder that when a person gets to the point where they are begging their partner for communication, it may be that the relationship is no longer healthy for them.“I was kind of completely shocked at how I let myself just fall apart. You’re healing that ache.Inspired by the Instagram post, Boutaleb decided to create her own social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram under the handle @imdatfeminist and share affirmations and advice with women who might be struggling with their own toxic relationships.This site is protected by recaptcha Privacy Policy | Terms of Service“I had no intention of this being a big thing,” Boutaleb told NBC News. That's ridiculous and beneath you” — received more than 250,000 likes and 88,000 retweets.Boutaleb has more than 45,000 followers on Twitter and more than 11,000 followers on Instagram and one not need look further than the comment sections of imdatfeminist’s posts to see just how widely these messages about reclaiming their time, setting boundaries and focusing on their own healing are resonating with young women.From Steve Harvey’s “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” to “He’s Just Not that Into You” by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo — based on a “Sex and the City” episode — manuals instructing women about how to get and keep their dream man abound. Disney movies, which Boutaleb cites as her first example of relationships, fail to give a complete picture of life beyond marriage.Enter imdatfeminist’s account, one that has been praised with providing young women in particular, who are navigating technology and relationships and who often have few other resources to turn to for information about healthy relationships with themselves and others.“The accounts are serving a function for young women, for whom there is a desperate need to see models of healthy relationships,” Dr. Gunnur Karakart, an associate professor who focuses on emotional abuse and relationship health at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, told NBC News. Or you can block him.Though Karakart said that the account cannot substitute therapy for someone dealing with a hostile relationship, the “imdatfeminist” pages succeed in destigmatizing difficult conversations regarding relationship health and empowering women to identify subtle ways they may be experiencing emotional abuse which expands “relationship literacy” and may be the first step they need to seek help, should they need it.“The thing about toxic relationships is that they’re so insidious and harmful because it makes you question your worth as a human being and that is so harmful, especially when you’re young,” Boutaleb said.