London model and body-positivity activist Charli Howard has some powerful advice for young women in the modelling industry.
Sharing a before-and-after photo of herself on Instagram, Howard explained why girls should never change themselves to meet someone else’s standard of beauty.
“I may be smiling in the photo on the left, but in reality, I was miserable,” Howard captioned the post.
Howard explained she “associated success with thinness” and was encouraged by her former agents to lose more and more weight.
“I didn’t care that my gums constantly bled, that I got constant cramps in my feet, that my hands were always cold, my periods irregular (if they came), that my skin was horrific or that my moods were erratic, because all I wanted to be was thin.” she wrote.
But after quitting her old modelling agency, and joining a new one that embraced her natural shape, Howard has seen her career take off.
“Beauty isn’t measured by a number or a dress size,” she continued.
“I’m surrounded by beautiful girls of all sizes and shapes because my agency sees the beauty in different bodies, just like agencies should.
“Girls, if your dream is to become a model, don’t give up! Never feel you have to change yourself to become one, because I’m living my dream at the size I’m supposed to be.
“Stick to your guns and embrace your natural shape because confidence is what will make you shine.
“Whilst I’m not the tallest, the thinnest or by any means the prettiest girl out there, I certainly feel like the happiest - and that’s good enough for me.”
Howard, who has over 40,000 Instagram followers, uses social media to help other women to learn to love their bodies too.
“I wish I’d seen non-Photoshopped images like this when I was growing up,” she wrote on a close-up photo showing her stretch marks.
“Go ahead and love yours, too. It’s what your body deserves.”
”Girls - if a man ever tells you your body isn’t good enough and what you need to change to make it ‘better’, do yourself a favour and dump him now,” she captioned another lingerie-clad post.
“Don’t let anything or anyone get you down!”
Amen 🙌