11 Empowering Quotes from Plus-Size Models

Cosmopolitan.com

By Laura Beck

Hayley Hasselhoff

1. "Growing up, I never accepted my curves, but when I got the opportunity to become a plus size model, I was able to appreciate my voluptuous body and love myself, not only on the outside, but on the inside."

2. "At the end of the day, we are all trying to feel comfortable in any type of size - plus size or not."

Tess Munster

3. "Fat is a trigger word. But if you use it often enough, it simply describes another one of your qualities. I think what helps me is taking the hurt out of the word. In the beginning I called myself curvy and all bodies have curves. So I would always myself curvy and get upset when people called me fat. Owning it gives me strength: yeah, I'm fat-but I'm also all the good things that I am."

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Crystal Renn

4. "[Someone] told me that the entire time I was in makeup, the stylist had been clomping up and down the hall, sputtering into her cell phone, 'I can't believe I have to style a FAT GIRL!' Believe it."

5. "We women are a lot more powerful if we see ourselves as fighters on the same side. But it's easier to judge others - their choices and their bodies - than to think about the struggles we share."

Robyn Lawley

6. "Since there is an assumption that a lot of models 'starve themselves' to stay thin, I always find it both funny and shocking when people ask me if I 'overeat' or am 'fed better' on photo shoots to help me stay a 'larger size.' While I may be a total foodie and enjoy cooking, I simply eat when I'm hungry and finish just before I'm full."

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Fluvia Lacerda

7. "The best result out of all the hard work I have achieved is knowing that I have liberated the minds of so many women who have struggled with a negative body image their entire lives."

Denise Bidot

8. "All I can say is that the only person that can stop you from achieving your goals is yourself. If you believe, then everyone else will too. Be proud of who you are and don't change for anyone."

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Ali Tate

9. "True beauty comes from the soul to change yourself, and to conform to anyone else's standards of beauty, is to change your essence, own who you are, and you become a truly powerful woman."

Emme

10. "Great self-esteem comes from inside and feels hot and wonderful."

Whitney Thompson

11. "I'm here to change things so that little girls have someone to look up to. I'm here to fight the eating disorder battle that millions of people are having and I'm standing up and saying that's not okay. Frankly, I can't fail. I will not fail."

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