body positivity
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Pool Rules: Chromat's Latest Campaign Changes the Rules of the Typical 'Swimsuit Body'
Boundary-pushing swimwear brand Chromat is no stranger to inclusivity. Since its launch in 2010, the label, helmed by former architect Becca McCharen-Tran, has been at the forefront of body positivity, using an “all bodies accepted here” approach in its runway shows and campaigns. But the brand’s latest campaign may be its best yet. Riffing on…
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True Beauty: Aerie Gets Even More Real with Its Campaigns
American Eagle’s swim and intimates brand, Aerie, has made a name for itself in recent years by presenting their models in all their un-retouched glory. Now, the brand has taken body positivity an important step further by including not only un-retouched models of different body types, but models with varying abilities, visible illnesses, body hair…
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Crossing the Lines: Are Stretch Marks Really Going Mainstream?
It’s swimsuit season, which means we’re seeing a lot more skin at our local beaches and pools—and a lot more of the inherent characteristics that come with being, well, you know, human (imagine that). To be clear, among other things, I’m talking about cellulite, scars, and stretch marks—which for some of us (*raises hand*) are…
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Lizzo Covers Teen Vogue and We’re in Love (Again)
Fun fact: Every few months, I play this game with my co-workers where I excitedly mention the singer and rapper known as Lizzo, and they all play like they have no idea who I’m talking about, despite likely hearing her music on about half a dozen commercials daily (“Worship,” anyone?). Then I hit them with…
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Sink or Swim? A Former Miss America Contestant Weighs In on the End of the Swimsuit Competition
When we heard the announcement last Tuesday that, after years of criticism, the Miss America Organization had decided to abandon its controversial swimsuit competition, we wondered if it might be a case of “too little, too late” in the pageant’s attempt to appeal to a new era of feminism. “We are no longer a pageant,”…
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‘Only a Woman Can Be This Strong’: Serena Shuts Down Body-Shamers in Harper’s Bazaar UK
“I’m the most girlie out of all [my] sisters,” Serena Williams tells Harper’s Bazaar U.K. in her interview for its June cover story. She says this while getting a pedicure in her favorite color, pink, which she also donned to stun in body-skimming Versace at last month’s royal wedding. And yet, Williams—along with sister Venus—has…
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Blowing Up: BigHeadHanna Reimagines Rihanna’s Head Abnormally Large, and It’s Hilarious
“Hey, Big Head … ” I swear, I will never again hear those words without thinking of my new favorite Instagram tribute account, BigHeadHanna. Since 2016, a 19-year old Italian member of Rih’s Navy simply known as “Lucia” has devoted her spare time to using PicsArt to alter pics of her idol, Rihanna, to resemble…
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In Living Color: Danielle Brooks Brightens Up Essence Magazine
Brown, body-positive and beautiful in brilliant hues—that’s Danielle Brooks inside the pages of May’s Essence magazine, where the Orange Is the New Black actress models a spectrum of vibrant looks styled by Fashion and Beauty Director Julee Wilson. While Kerry Washington wows on this issue’s black-and-white cover, Brooks gives us a color rush inside, flexing…
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Nothing to See Here: Rihanna Goes Razor-Free and the Internet Loses Its Damn Mind
We’re beginning to think “RiRi” stands for “real real,” because underneath the Killawatt highlighter, Rihanna always seems to keep it real with us. Taking a beat before her co-hosting gig at Monday’s 2018 Met Gala—aka the most anticipated fashion event of the spring—the singer, actress and entrepreneur took to her Instagram to show a little…
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‘The Body Is Not an Apology’: Sonya Renee Taylor Is Leading a Revolution of Radical Self-Love
With six words, Sonya Renee Taylor accidentally started a movement. When a friend with cerebral palsy confessed that her disability made it difficult to be sexual—so much so that she didn’t even feel entitled to ask a casual partner to use protection—Taylor quickly responded, “Your body is not an apology, and it’s not something you…