Iskra Lawrence Opens Up About Being Body Shamed By Her Own Family
Plus size model Iskra Lawrence has spoken out tons of times about dealing with body shaming from online trolls, but now she's getting personal about her struggle with body shaming at home. Growing up, Iskra had family members who would make her feel bad about her looks, and in her most recent Ask Iskra video, she gives tips on how to deal with hurtful comments from a loved one.
"Back in my teenage years I used to suffer with bad skin and I would get acne and breakouts and someone would tell me 'you can't leave the house like that without any makeup on, you've got spots it looks terrible, like go put some makeup on' so I'd run upstairs and cake my face," she said.
Eventually, the comments started to break down Iskra's self esteem. "It got to the point where I was so insecure about my skin because of these, you know, ritual 'ugh your skin looks so bad. Why – why is it like that? Why can't you do something about that?'"
She admits that her confidence was so low that she would wear waterproof full-coverage foundation to the pool just to cover up her acne. "I would go swimming – to swimming lessons – with this thick foundation on because I was so insecure about my skin. I started biting my nails to cover my face because I would get such bad breakouts," she shared.
And it wasn't just comments about her acne that got to her. Family members would also comment on her body. "I remember family members telling me you can't wear those type of boots that cut off on your calf because your legs look too big and it makes your legs look fat," she recalled.
Eventually Iskra learned to love her own body, and she says that if you're dealing with a body-shamer in your family, you should tell them why their comments are wrong. "You should stand up for yourself," she said. "You should, if someone makes a comment like that, tell them 'I appreciate your opinion, but that really hurt me and if you wouldn't mind not saying that again because that's not something you need to say.'"
Watch her full video below.
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