SUPERMODEL Ashley Graham has proven that you can be the “World’s Sexiest Woman” but still get body-shamed by strangers on the internet.
The model shut down haters not only with clever comebacks but with a grace that uplifted other curvy women.
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Graham was crowned the coveted title by Maxim magazine’s annual Hot 100 issue, which celebrated the 100 most attractive and influential women around the world.
The plus-size model and “Queen of Curves” dethroned Paige Spiranac for the accolade, which many saw as major progress for the body positivity movement.
Ashley, a key spokesperson and face of the movement, with over 20million followers on Instagram, has been vocal about efforts to be intentional with her social media to normalize real bodies.
“My brand is about confidence and owning who you are and being honest with who you are.
“I think that’s incredibly reflective of my Instagram, my Youtube, my podcast,” she told The Wall Street Journal for her March 2021 cover story.
“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.”
Despite her title, however, even the World’s Sexiest Woman isn’t immune to hate comments from unhappy critics.
After she posted a photo of herself in a backless minidress at a friend’s birthday party, she faced backlash from Sameera Khan, a former Miss New Jersey and current “anti-woke” journalist.
The journalist tweeted a photo of the model with the caption “The fat positivity movement is getting out of hand,” a tweet that has since been deleted.
Graham, in response, tweeted the same photo of herself but this time asking fans to contribute: “Quote tweet this with a photo of you taking ‘fat positivity’ too far. I’ll start.”
The tweet has since accumulated over 4,400 quote retweets, with supporters sharing their own photos showing off their curves.
Some simply tweeted photos while others added words of encouragement and thanked the model for inspiring them.
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“This is the most recent picture of me taking ‘fat positivity’ too far. When I posted it, I cropped out below my neck,” said one supporter.
“I need to stop doing that. And I need to take more pictures of ME. Thanks, Ashley.”
“Got a lot of backhanded messages when I posted this for the first time on Insta but I like it a lot more now,” tweeted another.
Despite her status, Graham even gets fat-shamed by those who work with her, including a stylist who commented on her thighs.
On a 2019 appearance on YouTube star Nikkie de Jager’s show, the model recounted the unpleasant experience.
“The end of last year, I had a stylist and I couldn’t fit into these pants,” Graham explained.
“[The stylist] smacked the side of my thighs and she said: ‘Ashley if you just got rid of that right there, you would be able to fit into these pants.'”
The model was appalled: “UM—excuse me? Isn’t the point of a stylist to find clothes to fit you rather than the other way around?”
Graham has even faced backlash from “fans” who have been unsatisfied with her body.
Some accused her of losing weight when she appeared to be thinner in an Instagram post, while others accused her of not being big enough to call herself a “big girl.”
“I hate that this is seen as ‘big girl.’ I see nothing but a beautiful, naturally curvy woman in all her glory…super-sexy and womanly,” one critic wrote.
In response to one critic, Graham once again handled the situation with grace and humility by encouraging supporters of the body positivity movement to redefine what it means to be “big.”
“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. I love my big strong beautiful body. Love you girlie.”
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