Everything Ashley Graham does/says/posts makes you like her even more. She can't help it. As one of the most outspoken body 'activists' in the fashion industry, it's her unflinching real talk on everything from self-love to sexual assault that keeps you coming back for more.
Like slamming the term 'plus-size' because labeling women based on 'the number inside of their pants' is divisive.
Or telling the world her cellulite doesn't define her worth.
Or her damning experience with high-school bullies, for example. In a new interview with Harpers Bazaar, the 29-year-old model opened up about hating school and internalising criticism from the haters.
'Girls would call me 'cottage-cheese thighs' and 'thunder thighs'. They'd be like 'Wide load coming through. Beep, beep!"' she told the magazine.
Graham goes on to say that despite already having started her burgeoning career in modelling, fellow school mates persisted in taking her down.
'As a model, people are telling you you're beautiful, and at school, people are telling you you're ugly. They would say, 'You're not really a model, you're a fat model.' It was humiliating. I think I just put my head down and internalised it,' she admitted.
While jealous school kids made her day to day difficult, there were also problems closer to home. Ashley goes on to talk about the uneasy relationship she had with her dad.
'[My dad was] a dark presence. My dad was very critical and harsh. He was physically there but absent emotionally.'
'He thought I was stupid because I had a really low reading level and I wasn't good at maths. His nickname for me was 'Duh'. That puts a lot of pressure on a kid.'
She's also typically candid about the subject of body image and her appearance.
'I still wake up some mornings and feel fat, of course I do, but I've come to a place where I'm like, the cellulite's not leaving, and I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I'll embrace it. Some women say, 'I can't get out of bed, I'm never going to find a man, or get that job that I want, because of the way I look'.
'I love my body. When I look in the mirror, I see a woman who is strong and ambitious, satisfied with who she is.'
'I'm simply not able to adhere to strict rules around deprivation. I get upset, 'hangry', when I'm not eating. I would never go on a major diet and work-out spree just to be thin.'
Same, tbh. Graham for President?
