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Ashley Graham, the renowned model and advocate for body positivity, has consistently championed the movement, but the recent surge in popularity of GLP-1 medications has posed a new challenge. These trends appear to counteract the progress made in embracing diverse body types.
“It’s really disheartening,” Graham expressed in her interview with Marie Claire, published on April 30. “There was a pendulum swing that focused on body acceptance and positivity, encouraging everyone to be who they want to be. Now, it’s swinging back in the opposite direction, which feels like a slap in the face to women who finally felt like they had a voice.”
Medications like semaglutides and GLP-1s, including Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, were initially designed to assist adults dealing with weight-related health issues. However, their use has expanded into celebrity circles as a quick fix for weight loss, despite medical professionals warning against using them casually.
“Trends evolve, and GLP-1s are part of this evolution,” Graham noted. “I understand there will always be women who are considered plus-size, and this drug won’t erase an entire demographic of women.”
In a proud testament to her advocacy, Ashley Graham continues to celebrate her postpartum body, including her stretch marks, one year following the birth of her twin boys. At 35, she shared an unfiltered photo of her bare stomach on Instagram, embracing her natural form without any captions.
For Graham, she plans to continue building a “community” of body-positive women.
“There’s so many [plus size influencers and creators]. They’re all over the place with their sizes and their proportions and how they look and how they’re relatable,” the supermodel mused to the outlet. “And to me, that’s the coolest part about all of this. Seeing that these girls, who were raised on social media at such a young age are now coming in and they have a platform to say to the younger generation, ‘Be yourself, be who you want to be. If you have cellulite, who cares?’”
As these Hollywood celebrities show in their words, actions and online posts, the body-positivity movement has officially entered the mainstream. Well-known activists have used social media as a tool to spread more messages of self-love to their fans. Mindy Kaling made a splash when she posted a series of photos of herself wearing different two-piece […]
Graham, for her part, is also still working to accept her own postpartum body. (Graham shares three sons with her husband, Justin Ervin.)
“I’m living in a different body and it’s been hard to get to know her,” she said of her post-baby figure. “I can’t say that I can look in the mirror and be like, ‘I love you.’ It’s not that for me. It’s that, ‘Wow, I made some children.’”
She continued, “I was as fit as I could be in 2019 when I got pregnant. I’m still trying to get to that, but I’ve had to get over it in my head that I’ll look like I did in my late 20s, early 30s. She’s gone. Let’s focus on the new girl. That has been like the last four years of my conversation in my head.”