“I’m very proud of my size 14 hips,” Ashley Graham told CNN at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night.
“The only pressure that I feel is to continue to represent women of all shapes and sizes in a correct manner,” she said. “I think that I’m doing that by eating healthy, working out and staying true to who I am. I am a very curvy, voluptuous woman.”
Graham, who was featured on the 2016 cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition, has been vocal about her experiences being body shamed — no matter her size.
“I’m too big. I’m too small. I’m too pretty. I’m too ugly. And I think at the end of the day, no woman is ever going to be good enough for society,” Graham said. “So why not just start embracing what is the difference in you and saying that is beautiful.”
Graham attributes her modeling success to self-acceptance.
“I started to claim confidence in my cellulite and my back fat and my cellulite on my arms,” she said. “That’s how you get on the cover of Sports Illustrated.”