For some reason, the society puts a lot of emphasis on size, despite the fact that dresses of the same size in various stores fit completely different measurements. Sure, the body positivity movement paved the way for curvy women, but until they stop calling themselves “brave” to love each other, our work here is far from over.
We look to the famous goddesses who help us feel more confident simply by being ourselves, and their words of self-love are something every woman needs to hear.
Ashley Graham
Graham became the first ever plus-size model to be featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and since then she’s made the entire fashion world play by her rules. Ashley promotes beauty beyond size and preaches to women that they need to be happy and healthy: “It doesn’t matter what size or shape you are. You can be healthy. It’s not just about our size. It’s about our mind, our heart, our emotions. We get so wrapped up in this size conversation.”
Melissa McCarthy
McCarthy never allowed Hollywood to dictate how she should look. She’d already won 2 Emmy Awards and had been nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar, before she decided to lose some weight. Melissa has a full control over how she looks and knows she’s her own woman: “With women, there’s this constant weird cultural thing where we’re always supposed to be comparing ourselves with one another. Who wore it best? Whose butt’s better? Instead, how about if everyone wins? How intensely boring would it be if we were all the same?”
Iskra Lawrence
Lawrence is currently a successful plus-size model, but she didn’t start out that way. Previously, Iskra struggled with trying to fit into fashion standards. It was a difficult time for her, but she was strong enough to accept herself and that’s when she finally found her spot in the sun: “I was so confused about why my body was curvy. That’s when I became obsessed with my weight… When I looked in the mirror, I hated what I saw. [One day] I was like, ’Okay, I’m different, and that’s what’s going to make me work.’ I never wanted to diet again. Once I convinced myself that I could do this, I was able to convince [the agencies].”
Rihanna
RiRi once confessed that she has an unstable figure, which makes it easy for her to gain weight: “I actually have had the pleasure of a fluctuating body type, where one day I can literally fit into something that is bodycon, and then the next day — the next week — I need something oversized; I need a little crop here and a high-waist there to hide that part, you know?” Still, it has no control over her confidence and she doesn’t let it bother her.
Christina Aguilera
Aguilera has also had to learn how to live with frequent weight gain and loss. Funnily enough, she realized that whatever size she is, someone will always be unhappy, but she knows that it’s only her opinion that matters: “I’ve been through my highs, I’ve been through my lows… Being too thin. Being bigger. I’ve been criticized for being on both sides of the scale. It’s noise I block out automatically. I love my body.”
Amy Schumer
Schumer isn’t opposed to joking around about her size, which has served as material for many sketches on her Inside Amy Schumer show. However, once, when a person on Instagram criticized her appearance, she didn’t stay silent and powerfully clapped back: “I like how I really look. That’s my body. I love my body for being strong and healthy.”
Jennifer Lopez
For years, both men and women have been admiring J-Lo’s shapely figure. Although she’s proud of how she looks now, there were times when she was insecure about her larger-than-average bottom: “I remember thinking I wasn’t thin enough because I had curves. But I’ve learned that being healthy and feeling great aren’t about having one specific body type — it’s a completely individual thing.”
Kelly Clarkson
The famous singer has gone through some weight fluctuations throughout the years, but they didn’t affect her beauty. Being in the public eye, Kelly knew she had to tune out the critics who always had their eye on her weight change: “I’ve just never cared what people think. It’s more about if I’m happy and I’m confident and feeling good. That’s always been my thing. And more so now, since having a family—I don’t seek out any other acceptance.”
Beyoncé
Beyoncé became one of the biggest inspirations to curvy women after coining the word “bootylicious” and even officially getting it into the dictionary. She’s always stayed true to her shape and proudly flaunted her gifts to help others love themselves as well. She once said: “We do not value ourselves enough. Especially young people, [who] don’t really appreciate how brilliant our bodies are.”
Demi Lovato
Lovato struggled with eating disorders for nearly a decade, but came out victorious on the other side. She used to look down on herself and doesn’t want this to happen to other girls like her: “I was on Instagram and I started comparing myself to these IG models. I thought to myself; someone needs to show my fans and anybody that’s looking at my account that what you see isn’t always what’s real.” So Demi took the lead and posted her own un-retouched photos with the caption: “No thigh gap for me, and yet I still love myself.”
Lena Dunham
The Girls creator admits that she has a complicated relationship with her body, but she accepts it as part of the process, and at the end of the day remembers to love herself: “I’ve never called myself ‘body positive,’ because my relationship with my curves and scars isn’t overtly political— it’s wildly personal. And it isn’t always positive. I take enormous comfort in the body positivity movement, but I think of myself as something more like ‘body tolerant.’”
Mindy Kaling
The shapely Ms. Kaling showed everyone that you don’t have to be a size 0 to be the star of your own show. She’s dealt with insecurities her entire life, but now she’s confident and successful: “Being called fat, being called not pretty, these are just weapons that men can use against women that we can’t use against them. I am fairly impervious to when people say those things about me, because it’s like, well, I was born this way and I can’t really change that.”
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah’s words of wisdom need to be taught in schools: “I think of all the years I’ve wasted hating myself fat, wanting myself thin. Feeling guilty about every croissant, then giving up carbs, then fasting, then dieting, then worrying when I wasn’t dieting, then eating everything I wanted until the next diet. All that energy I could have spent loving what is.”
Lizzo
The successful singer knows all too well what it’s like to want to be someone else. It took her accepting her own body to become an unstoppable woman who’s now enjoying the fame and, most importantly, herself: “I remember one day being like, ‘This is it.’ 20-some-odd years of me believing that one day I can wake up and be some other girl. It’s like, you’re not gonna wake up and be bigger or smaller or lighter or darker; your hair’s not gonna suddenly grow down past your knees. You’re going to look this way for the rest of your life. And you have to be OK with that.”
Serena Williams
The legendary tennis player sets a stellar example for her daughter by being proud of her body and celebrating it for everything it has helped her achieve: “I was constantly told I was too muscular, or I wasn’t pretty enough to be a tennis player. I learned to ignore the negativity and look inwards to truly love myself… I love who I am… I love my body, my skin, my confidence and I fully embrace everything about me.”
