body positivity
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She Got That Glow: Octavia Spencer Proves That Ingenues Don’t Corner the Market on Hollywood Glamour
The 90th annual Academy Awards were full of glamorous surprises, but perhaps one of the most pleasant ones was how beautifully turned out perennial fave Octavia Spencer was Sunday night. Appearing for her third supporting actress nod for eventual best picture winner The Shape of Water, the actress and children’s-book author was styled by sister…
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Dressing the Onion: Whitney Mero and the Comfortable Couture of Onion Cut & Sewn
Walking into Onion Cut & Sewn’s East Harlem studio is walking into a world of very pretty possibilities. A spectrum of vibrant fabrics are stacked to the ceiling, while dress forms stand half-draped in fabric, soon to join the rack of garments hanging along one full wall. In a corner beneath dozens of spools of…
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Real Beauty: Is Truth in Advertising Finally Here?
“For my entire life, I’ve been sold the seduction of my inadequacy.” —Lupita Nyong’o Those are the words of a woman many consider one of the most beautiful in the world, who grew up, like many black and brown girls everywhere, not seeing images in the media that reflected herself and validated her beauty. Seth…
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#28DaysBlackOfCosplay: Learning to Love Myself by Playing Dress-Up
I’m a cosplayer. A black geek. A black, queer, cosplaying geek in a plus-size body. I conduct a body-positivity panel at conventions called “Love Your Cosplay Body.” For about an hour, I wax philosophically about accepting yourself and ignoring the randos of the internet who comment on fat-black-girl pics with witty remarks like “whale” or…
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Defying Gravity: 5 Pole Dancing Athletes Debunk Stereotypes—and Dare You to Try Something New
Ballet dancer Misty Copeland once said: “You can do anything you want, even if you are being told negative things. Stay strong and find motivation.” Two years ago, I applied this same perspective to pole dancing. I transitioned from joking about having two left feet to signing up for a pole dancing course; I left…
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Body Politics: Transforming Your #TransformationTuesday
#TransformationTuesday, a popular hashtag that encourages people to share their fitness success stories, has collected more than 11 million tags on social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Like many, I’ve indulged in my share of posts showcasing my weight-loss journey and muscle gains. But though visuals can be inspiring, they can also haunt like…
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The Illustrator of Curves Is the Instagram That Loves Your Body Unconditionally (and Hopes You Do, Too)
If your holiday season is going anything like mine, you’re already plotting how to take off a few new pounds in the new year. While ’tis the season to shower our family and friends with love, our self-care can unfortunately take a bit of a hit in the process.Since none of us is immune to…
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On the Real: Body-Positive Models Took Over Times Square for a Guerrilla-Style Lingerie Show
In “We can’t believe we missed this” news: Blame it on the holidays, but our thoughts are definitely indoors these days. And as we blessedly begin to wind down during the holiday season (in favor of the actual holidays), our biggest fashion aspirations involve staying stylish in “sweater weather.” But the plunging temps didn’t stop…
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Canadian MP Rocks ‘Pretty Dope’ Braids in Solidarity With Girls Shamed for Their Hair
Canadian Member of Parliament Celina Caesar-Chavannes took to the floor of our upstair neighbor’s legislative body last week and delivered a moving speech on bullying and intolerance of black hairstyles and features. “Irrespective of her hairstyle, the size of her thighs, the size of her hips, the size of her baby bump, the size of…