Photos courtesy of Google Images
Have you ever looked in the mirror and hated what you saw? Me too. When it comes to self-love, I think it is the hardest thing that we as humans have to work on. One thing that most people don’t know is that even though someone on the outside looks like they are the happiest person, they can turn out to be some of the saddest and loneliest people we know. I always grew up feeling this need to hate what I saw in the mirror because I never looked like the girls you would see in magazines and online, that is, until I saw a Sports Magazine in a store one day.
On the cover was the first plus-size model I have ever seen, and her name was Ashley Graham. She is the reason why sometimes I feel it’s okay not to be a size 0, even though that’s what a lot of models tend to be. I think in today’s society, we focus so much on what we look like on the outside that we don’t pay attention to someone’s inside or what is going on in the world. That day that I walked into the store and saw that magazine, I promise I could’ve cried on the spot because it is not every day you see someone that looks likes you look on a famous magazine cover. If I could meet her, the first thing I would do is thank her for showing the other side of what beauty is.
We look at these companies who use the same type of models and criticize ourselves because they chose not to be diverse or show what most women and men look like for real. We look around, and we see people laughing and happy, but sometimes that is not always the case. Someone who is a size 0 can be unhappy, and someone who is a size 16 can be happy and full of life and vice versa. When I see Ashley Graham modeling, especially on magazine covers, I sometimes think that if she can be confident with who she is, then so can I. I shouldn’t let someone else’s representation of beauty control my happiness and neither should you.
Another person I would want to thank would be Demi Lovato. I think we should learn a lot from her because she showed that sometimes beauty is about what is in your heart and actions. Every day, I look around, and sometimes I make the mistake of comparing myself to other girls who look like they could be models, and I think why can’t I look like that or even that my life would be 100x better if I looked like that. In reality, I don’t know if it really would be better or if those girls are happy with how they look. Demi has inspired me to love myself and that it is okay not to be okay. Also, she taught me that the first step to being happy with who you are is to love yourself and know that you were meant to be on this earth.
These women and many others are showing the world their many definitions of beauty. They are breaking the expectations of society and showing everyone being beautiful is something that comes from within, not what you look like on the outside. These women and many others are my curvy inspirations.
“I am more than my measurements. The cycle of body-shaming needs to end. I’m over it… My body is MY body. I’ll call the shots.” ― Ashley Graham
“Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features, everyone has them.”
― Demi Lovato