Ashley Graham Is Really Tired of Constantly Discussing Her Body
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Ashley Graham has spent a lot of her life and career talking about her body. She's constantly showing off her unfiltered body on social media, giving love to her stretch marks and curves, and encouraging others to do the same—but, sometimes, she wishes she could shift the focus elsewhere.
"I hate that I constantly have to discuss my body, because I don't know any man that has to do that," she told WSJ in an interview published Tuesday.
As a plus-size model, however, Graham, 33, feels the responsibility to normalize her body and set a positive example for others.
"What motivates me to continue to talk about my body is that I didn't have someone talking about their body when I was young," she explained. "This is why I don't post like the 'perfect' Instagram photos. I keep it real and raw constantly because I want [people] to know that there are women with cellulite, with back fat, with stretch marks... There are a lot of curvy women, plus-size women, fat women, whatever you want to call them."
Then, the interviewer asked Graham what she would like to be called in the industry, if "plus-size model" isn't her preferred choice. "A woman," she replied.
Another fitting title for Graham is "first." She's had a long career of breaking barriers and doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. As ET Online reports, she became the first size 14 model featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue in 2016, the first plus-size model on the cover of Vogue in 2017, and the first curvy model of her generation to receive a major beauty contract, becoming a Revlon ambassador in the United States in 2018.
"I really feel like in so many ways my career and what I'm doing is to change an industry forever," she said.
She doesn't only want to see these changes in modeling and fashion, though. "This has to be the moment where fashion changes—where TV, film, everything changes," she says. "If you're not talking about something that you're passionate about, then what are you using your platform for? How are you creating change?"
While Graham doesn't want to be expected to talk about her body forever, she does want to keep talking about things that matter to her and bring others in on the conversation. She's already doing this on her Instagram page, but we might just get to see this happen on a larger scale in the future, because for her ultimate goal, she says, "I want a talk show."
