In a time when young women and older women alike face pressure to be thinner, it's no surprise that the majority of us have body issues. Now one college girl is trying to break those barriers down after posting a half naked picture of herself on her tumblr page called Body Love Blog. NYU student Stella Boonshoft posted it as a means to embrace body confidence no matter what your size and to stand up to those people who have bullied her for her weight.
It takes a lot of guts to do something like what this college girl did! This brave young woman's story is amazing!
Boonshoft received more exposure after a photographer by the name Brandon Stanton posted it on his photography site, Humans of New York. Stanton and Boonshoft met on the street after she asked him if she could take a picture of him and in return he took one of her and later posted the bikini picture on his site. Originally Boonshoft was frightened by the thought of the number of people who would see her photo, but bravely decided to leave it alone.
If it were me, I'd let my insecurities get the best of me, but the point of her message is exactly that: embracing your body–flaws and all. "I know what I am trying to do, which is help young women struggling with their body image and expose the hypocrisy and cruelty that is sizeism, is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT," she said, "whatever feelings I may have about myself."
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The fact that she put her insecurities aside to help other women realize that it's okay to not look like a Victoria's Secret model (It's unrealistic after all!) is such a strong message. Boonshoft is telling us that we should celebrate our bodies however we may look and her stance resonates more because she was a victim of bullying. It's great to see those who have been picked on for the way they look, putting their foot down and embracing who they are. It's also a great lesson to teach our daughters!
She is what I would call an amazing role model and I'm sure this won't be the last time we hear about her. The world needs more people like her to send positive body messages to young girls who are fixated on misleading airbrushed magazine covers.
Image via The Body Love Blog/tumblr
