Gather ‘round, friends, it’s that time again …
Time to look at Ashley Graham and read her beautiful words and “ooh” and “ahh” over what a beautiful, amazing angel she is!
This time is the best time.
Ashley is very possibly the most famous plus-size model in the world right now, and she’s not taking the gig lightly. Nope, she’s taking every opportunity to speak out about her feelings and experiences.
Because you know this girl can reach some people.
In a new interview, Ashley admits that when other women tell her about the body-shaming they’ve experienced, she can always relate — because she’s heard it all before herself.
“Nothing’s actually surprised me,” she says. “I’ve lived exactly what they’re living. I’ve lived the torment of the names. I’ve lived the torment of boyfriends breaking up with me because they were afraid I was going to be too fat later in life.”
Let’s take a moment to mourn the fact that insensitive, ignorant jackasses like that actually exist in society …
“They were afraid I was going to be too fat later in life,” honestly.
Ashley continues by stating “It’s the same cycle, it doesn’t matter what generation we are in. Every kid is going to go through the same thing.”
“I wake up sometimes and I think ‘I’m the fattest woman alive.’ But it’s really about how you handle it when you wake up.”
“I look in the mirror,” she says, “and I have my affirmations. And mine are simple — ‘You are bold. You are brilliant and you are beautiful."”
“And then if my lower pooch is really puffing out that day, I say ‘Lower pooch, you are cute.’ And we have a moment.”
“And if the hips are really popping,” she adds, “I say ‘I love you too, hips."”
Ashley Graham: one of the most adorable people alive, or the most adorable person alive?
She also says that “having more role models, more women who are like ‘Yeah, I have cellulite. Yeah, it’s even on my arms, not just my legs. My butt is a really bizarre shape but you know what, whatever, I’m just going to rock it"” is important.
“I think if we had more role models like that, that were really just speaking their truth about their body and the skin that they’re in then maybe young America would be different.”
But while it would be great if we had more role models like that, it’s important to note that Ashley is a role model like that, and she’s done so much good, just by herself.
“I think my career has been a huge testament to how the industry is changing right before our eyes,” she acknowledges.
“I don’t think that a girl my size, as a model, would ever have been on the cover of Vogue and I’m still so shocked at that.”
Here’s hoping this girl gets many more big shocks — goodness knows she deserves them.