Ashley Graham Defends Calling Herself "Big" in Her Nude Bathroom Selfie

• On October 18, Ashley Graham shared a nude bathroom selfie with her Instagram followers, captioning the photo "nakie big girl."

• The model's use of the caption "big" caused some controversy, and in response Graham explained her positive view of the word.

• Over the weekend, the new mom also celebrated her son Isaac turning nine months old with a throwback picture featuring the team that helped her through labor and delivery.

Never one to shy away from body positive captions, Ashley Graham lit up her Instagram over the weekend with a post-shower, nude bathroom selfie celebrating her curves.

Captioned "nakie big girl" Graham's picture has garnered over a million likes on the social media platform since she posted it on Sunday, but some followers took issue with the model's use of the word "big." One person left the comment "nakie *normal* girl," while another fan wrote, "I hate that this is seen as ‘big girl’ I see nothing but a beautiful, naturally curvy woman in all her glory..... super sexy and womanly ❤️."

Graham took the time to engage with the comments. "I hear what you’re saying. But if you look at ‘big’ as a positive or love then you can see it like I do," the new mom replied on Instagram. "I love my big strong beautiful body," she added, ending with, "Love you girlie❤️."

Despite some of the criticism, many fans did praise Graham for changing the way they view their own bodies. One woman wrote: "You're so inspirational, I can't even begin to explain it. As a girl who struggles to embrace her body, seeing women like you stand up and embrace your own beauty makes be feel a bit better about myself and my own body. Thank you."

The 32-year-old host of the podcast Pretty Big Deal followed up her Sunday bathroom selfie with a throwback picture to commemorate one of her son's milestones. Surrounded by her husband Justin Ervin as well as her labor and delivery team, she captioned the photo: "Can’t believe Isaac is 9 months today! 9 months in, 9 months out 👶 Thank you to this phenomenal team for making my labor and delivery so smooth. We are so lucky to have the support from these amazing women!"

Over the past year, Graham has been honoring her changing body by posting a zoomed in picture of her stretch marks, a labor photo, and an intimate pregnancy photoshoot. "A lot of women I speak to have image issues, body issues around confidence," Graham noted in a July 2020 interview with People. "I want them to understand that we all have things that society has told us to cover up and why do we need to do that? So here I am with mine out and about and proud."

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