Need some positive energy in your life? These Instagrams are perfect when I need to feel good about myself and my life.
1. Iskra: @iskra
Iskra Arabella Lawrence is a 27-year-old English model. After being dropped from a modeling agency for being “too big” at the age of 15, Iskra’s focus has been to change the perception of women’s bodies in the media. She is now a global Role Model for Aerie, a National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) brand ambassador and was recognized as one of the BBC’s 100 World’s Most Influential Women.
Basically, she is taking the world by storm! (I mean have you seen her Golden Globes red carpet dress???) In her powerful TEDx talk, she discussed the need to abandon society’s unrealistic beauty standards as well as her Instagram account, where she bans retouched photos and actively calls out body shammers, and inspires women and girls around the world.
2. Ashley Graham: @theashleygraham
Ashley Graham is most widely known as the first plus-sized model to cover the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition at a size 14. She has since been seen killing it on the cover of both Vogue AND Cosmopolitan. Graham has spoken at high schools about body image and body acceptance and is a proponent of the Health at Every Size movement.
She also gave a TED Talk advocating for self-acceptance with regards to body images where she explains why you shouldn't refer to her as "Plus -Sized" Models. She is also an advocate for confident self-image promoting the hashtag #BeautyBeyondSize.
Ashley also has collections with swimsuits for all and designed a lingerie line for Addition Elle. You can buy her body positive curvy Barbie, catch her as a judge on the VH1 reboot of Americas Next Top Model, AND buy her book, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like.
3. Liris Crosse: @lirisc
"The average woman is not even a size 14 anymore. She's a 16,"
Liris Crosse represents “curvy black girl magic” as the FIRST and ONLY plus size model winner of Project Runway when she competed in cycle 16, which featured models from all sizes for the first time in Project Runway history.
Liris has been championing the beauty of full-figured women throughout her 20-year career and currently hosts the “Life Of A Working Model” boot camp where she shares real-life experiences, advice, and tips to women trying to enter the fashion fray. You can even buy her recently released book Make The World Your Runway.
4. Troy Solomon: @abearnamedtroy
Serving some fierce realness is Troy Solomon, 28-year-old Instagram star and plus size model. He promotes self-love and body positivity with his 40.3 thousand followers by being unapologetically himself and looks like he’s having a damn good time while doing it. Give him a quick follow and make sure to check out his weekly Wine Wednesday Live show!
5. Bo Stanley (@bostanley)
Though she never got a rose, some of you may remember Bo as the first “curvy” girl on The Bachelor. However, Stanley is also a surfer, model, and yoga enthusiast who has appeared in ads for Lane Bryant, Athleta, and the Vanity Fair sports collection. As an athlete, she works out to be healthy and strong BUT she rejects the idea that women should feel pressured to exercise in order to change their body for some beauty ideal because “health and beauty come in many shapes and sizes.”
6 & 7. @boycottthebefore and @fearlesslyfaceless
Campaigns created by NEDA for NEDAawareness week by eating-disorder survivors and Instagram friends Lexie Manion, 22, Dani Appel 16, a rising high-school junior from Dallas, Texas. Boycott the Before challenges the "before" of Eating Disorder recovery comparison photos and Fearlessly Faceless invites people battling eating disorders to regram the image below as an act of unity and to prove you don't have to "look sick" to be sick — and to seek help.
