My Body Positive Hero: Sports Illustrated Model, Ashley Graham

Ashley Graham doesn't put up with body-shaming (Image Credit: Instagram)

Ashley Graham doesn't put up with body-shaming (Image Credit: Instagram)

If you don't know who Ashley Graham is, allow me to introduce her. In the short, she is a plus-sized model. In the long, she’s an advocate for change in an industry that is size-zero focused. Graham is making serious strides to get rid of body-shamers, and help women of all shapes and sizes feel more confident.

I stand with her message 100%.

Let’s face it – everyone has something to say about something. And living in the United States, we all have freedom of speech, the right to say whatever we want to say.

But that doesn’t make body-shaming comments any less hurtful. So let's get some first things first: body-shaming is a foul thing that leaves one party walking away feeling horrible, and the other party walking away feeling like they did some good by giving the other person a "wakeup call."

News flash: body-shaming does nothing positive for either person’s life.

In fact, the body-shamers should be the ones ashamed... of themselves.

 

Ashley Graham has been on a journey since she was called the "fat model" at the start of her career, a mission to spread the body positivity message, and help women everywhere feel comfortable in their own skin.

I don't know about you, but I can no longer sit back and watch woman after woman, plus-sized or zero-sized, constantly hear that her body is “wrong.”

Enter Ashley Graham.

She's beautiful. She’s a model. She’s one smart cookie.

And yet she’s still getting body-shamed constantly.

For instance, on the many occasions that she has shared un-photoshopped images from lingerie shoots, fans advocate on her behalf. Great! Yet many of those same fans turn around and shame her when Graham posts a picture from a “good" angle, or a pic that suggests she may have lost some weight.

Major eye roll, right? But lots of us have been there, which is what makes her story so relatable.

Ashley Graham has been on a journey since she was called the “fat model” at the start of her career, a mission to spread the body positivity message and help women everywhere feel comfortable in their own skin.

Graham recently shared, "As a curvy woman, it was the assumption that I should look up to Marilyn Monroe or Jennifer Lopez, mainly because they were two of the most notable curvy women in the public eye that were being praised for their curves. But these weren't my role models. In reality, the woman I looked up to the most was my mother. She told me I was beautiful and she never devalued herself, so why would I? She told me and taught me that true beauty comes from within and that validation and self-worth must also come from within."

Preach it, girl.

Want to help a lot of people feel more awesome about themselves every single day? Help spread Graham's message of body positivity.  

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