Blogger Leah Stanley Wore Her Bikini During A Blizzard To Make An Important Statement About Body Confidence
By Gillian Fuller. Photos: Courtesy of Instagram.
Vermont-based, plus-size blogger Leah Stanley has long been using social media to start a conversation about body-positivity and self-acceptance, but it was her latest post—a hilarious blizzard bikini selfie—that’s really grabbing people’s attention.
The picture, which Stanley posted to Instagram, shows the 28-year-old joyfully jumping in the snow, wearing nothing more than a pink-and-blue patterned bikini. The caption reads:
"See that weird thigh gap? Yup, it turns out we all have one, took #stormstella to find mine so #thankyoustella, for helping me find my TRUE thigh gap, without an hour of posing and arching and without crying and starving for carbs due to lack of them. I just put this bikini on and faced the storm, much like when I start to feel down. I don’t cower back and let my crazy thoughts take over, I face them. I think about why and what I can do to change it! I sure AF can’t change the storm, but I sure can embrace it, like I do this bikini!"
Stanley spoke to Yahoo Style about the picture, which received nearly 1,000 likes on Instagram in less than 24 hours. The blogger said that she was missing bikini season, and decided to go with her whim, even though it was snowing. She explained,
"It’s 18 degrees now so I wore my robe outside and quickly tossed it to my husband right before he started taking photos. Everyone has a 'bikini body,' and should look forward to swim season."
She also said that she hopes the photo will inspire self-conscious women to learn to embrace their bodies as they are—just like she learned to. She continued: "I’ve always been confident, even though I was body-shamed a lot in school. I quickly learned it has more to do with the bully than the person being picked on. So rather than let it get me down, I focus on just being me….We all have confidence within. It’s a matter of finding it and not holding back or worrying what society thinks."
This story originally appeared on Allure.
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