Ashley Graham has responded to people who disagree with her describing herself as “big”, explaining that people should perceive the word as a “positive”.
The model, who has 11.5 million followers on Instagram, recently shared a nude bathroom selfie on the social media platform, which she captioned: “nakie big girl.”
While several Instagram users left praiseworthy comments for Graham in the comment section, others took umbrage with the fact Graham referred to herself as “big”.
“I hate that this is seen as ‘big girl’,” one person said. “I see nothing but a beautiful, naturally curvy woman in all her glory… super sexy and womanly.”
Someone else commented with a supposed edit suggestion for the caption, writing: “Nakie *normal* girl.”
In response to the first comment, Graham explained that in her opinion, “big” shouldn’t be a term that people feel the need to shy away from.
“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,” she said.
“I love my big strong beautiful body. Love you girlie.”
Several Instagram users voiced their support for Graham’s point of view.
“That’s so true mama… love your positivity,” one person said.
“YOU are the role model I want my daughters (and son!) to look up to… thank you for always being real.”
“Agree! Let’s not look at ‘big’ as a bad thing!” another said.
“Big small and anything in between is equally normal and beautiful.”
Graham has long-been praised for speaking out about body image.
In September, the model – who gave birth to her first child earlier this year – shared a video of her hands forming a heart on top of stretch marks on her stomach.
“I love this so much I could cry. Real women have curves, stretch marks, C-section marks, you name it. Thank you for making the stigma disappear,” one person commented in response.
