Ashley Graham is a world-renowned model and body activist who has graced the covers of fashion magazines like Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, SELF, Sports Illustrated, and many more. She has given many speeches about body image, self-acceptance, and female empowerment—her most notable one being her TED Talk in 2015. Ashley Graham continues to advocate for body positivity through her new book, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like, in which she opens up about sexual assault, the term “plus-size,” and ways in which she practices body positivity.
In a phone interview with Vogue, Ashley talks about the sexual assault she faced at the young age of 10. “When you read it out loud, it’s even more powerful to talk about being sexually assaulted because women just don’t do it. It’s not a natural conversation you have with your girlfriends.” For Ashley, it’s important to be candid about her experiences because she wants to empower other women and let them know that they are not alone. “I think that the more vulnerable I was, the easier it was going to be for someone to relate to me. I’m not going to give the story half-assed–I’m going to give it to you full on.”
Along with her own experiences, Ashley Graham talks about the model industry’s misuse of the term “plus-sized” when referring to curvier models like herself. “I also feel like grouping women all together just because of a number inside their pants is so divisive”, she explains. She makes it a point to let others know that being a plus-sized model doesn’t make her any less successful than any other model; being curvier is something that will never slow her down.
One way the successful model is able to remain body positive is through words of affirmation, and she encourages other women to do the same thing. In the interview with Vogue, she explains how difficult it was to end the cycle of thinking negatively towards herself. “When I came up with ‘I am bold, I am brilliant I am beautiful,’ I really liked how they were all three different. It was about my brains, it was about my beauty, and it was about being my true self, the boldness.”