Ashley Graham has had it.
The model and body activist penned a letter to the masses in this week’s edition of Lenny Letter, in which she discusses the ownership others have expressed over her body.
The Sports Illustrated cover model frequently goes to bat against body shamers, but her latest missive zeros in on the internet’s flip-flopping ways every time she posts something on social media.
“To some I’m too curvy. To others I’m too tall, too busty, too loud, and, now, too small — too much, but at the same time not enough,” she says in the essay. “I’m over it.”
Graham’s emotions on this issue are not singular. “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star Khloe Kardashian sounded off on the matter just last month.
Graham’s been a model for 16 years and emphasizes to readers in her piece that she knows her angles by now. As such, she was shocked by the reaction she received to a photo she thought she looked “damn good” in.
Graham includes some of the angry remarks she found in the essay. “You don’t make plus-size dollars anymore, you make backstabbing dollars," said one comment.
Another said: “You don’t love the skin you’re in, you want to conform to Hollywood, you believe being skinnier is prettier.”
This is the offending photograph:
Of the ordeal, Graham said:
“People were upset because I appeared to be slimmer. (Knowing my angles is one thing, but I must be a magician to make people think I went from a size 14 to a size 6 in a week!) The reality is I haven’t lost a pound this year. In fact, I’m actually heavier than I was three years ago.”
Graham, being the badass that she is, goes on to say that no one can decide something about your body but you.
“Let’s worry about our own bodies... My body is MY body. I’ll call the shots.”
We feel more beautiful just reading your words, Ashley. Read the whole story from Lenny here.
