Ashley Graham has made waves as one of the most body positive models in the industry. But even someone who seems (and is) ultra-confident in her skin can feel nervous donning a swimsuit.
In a recent interview with People, Graham opened up about her swimsuit insecurities.
"I mean, of course like any girl when you get to the beach or the pool and you go, 'Oh, I have to take my cover-up off, crap.' And you feel like everybody’s watching, and then you just go, 'Oh fine, I’ll just take it off,'" Graham told People. "And then all of a sudden you get comfortable and go, 'Okay. Another piña colada.'"
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It's great to see a body positive icon like Graham open up about still feeling shy at the beach, but it's not exactly true that "any girl" would feel this way — Graham seems to get over her shyness at taking off her cover-up pretty quickly.
But numbers show that most women still feel extremely self-conscious when they put on a swimsuit. About 73% of the 1,000 women in Refinery29's recent survey said that wearing a swimsuit to the beach or a pool is the most stress-ridden situation they can imagine when it comes to their bodies.
That number is way too high. And although models like Ashely Graham and Iskra Lawrence, fitness instructors like Jessamyn Stanley and Roz The Diva, and social media influencers like Megan Crabbe are breaking boundaries for plus-size women, we still have a lot of work to do.
It's your body. It's your summer. Enjoy them both. Check out more #TakeBackTheBeach here.
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