I believe that we're all here for a purpose and that one of my biggest ones is to help people understand that they're beautiful.
— Ashley Graham
The fashion industry might persist to label me as plus-sized, but I like to think of it as my-sized.
It doesn't matter what size your hips are when you measure them. It's about, 'Do you feel good and healthy in those hips?'
The sum total of what I learned about African American culture in school was Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Underground Railroad. This was more than my mom knew; she didn't even see a black person in real life until she was 18 years old.
I want to be a better parent than I had. Even though my mom was absolutely amazing. Her and I are still best friends to this day. I think that the next generation should always be better and better.
The runway isn't just about showing fashion, it's about gaining confidence. And I really believe that once you've got your confidence, you can wear anything, you can do anything.
For so long, I have been an outsider because of my size. And I think that fashion has always, in some way, catered to celebrities or to a thinner idealistic model.
I really, truly believe beauty is beyond size.
I work out not to lose weight but to maintain my good health. And anyway, if I did want to lose weight, it would be no one's decision but my own.
There's something to be said about just being vulnerable. Every woman has gone through something in her life that has been an image issue, or it has been something where somebody told her she's not good enough. And every woman can relate to that.
I've lived the torment of the names. I've lived the torment of boyfriends breaking up with me because they were afraid I was going to be too fat later in life.
Words have power, and if you are going to use your words negatively, then that is exactly what is going to happen in your life.
I love my hourglass figure.
When you're given an 'SI' cover, and you take advantage of it, you can conquer the world. Look at Chrissy Teigen. Look at Tyra Banks. Look at Kathy Ireland.
I used to be bound by people who placed limits on what they thought I could do. Through that, I learned that if you want something, you have to be the one to go out and do it. If you don't ask for something, you're not going to get it.
The beauty of being a curvier girl is that we're all shaped so differently.
People want to see themselves in the industry that, for so long, has ostracized girls of my size.
I think women think I'm inspirational because I'm unapologetic. I have cellulite. I have back fat. I've got a thick stomach. But I work my body like I don't because I don't know any other body. I don't know how to feel thin. I just know how to feel like Ashley.
I felt free once I realized I was never going to fit the narrow mold society wanted me to fit in.
I tried every diet, from living on cabbage soup to fasting to Weight Watchers, and then came the frozen meals and the shakes. I realized that the more I took care of my body, eating what was good for me, then I felt happy and whole.
Eventually, I joined a church. I didn't go there to find a boyfriend; I truly wasn't looking for anyone other than the person I wanted to be.
I love blocking people. I'm not afraid to block anybody.
I am more than my measurements. I'm not Ashley Graham just because I'm curvy.
We need to work together to redefine the global image of beauty and continue to push for a more inclusive world.
I don't like to use the words 'real women,' honestly. I like to use the word 'woman.' And I say that because there are so many women out there who are naturally thin or are naturally curvy, and I think when we start putting a label on the type of woman, it gets misconstrued and starts to offend people.
When I post a photo from a 'good angle,' I receive criticism for looking smaller and selling out. When I post photos showing my cellulite, stretch marks, and rolls, I'm accused of promoting obesity.
I was called the girl that was 'pretty for a big girl,' 'the fat model.'
This confidence is not something that happens overnight. I have been working on it for a long time. I look in the mirror and do affirmations: 'You are bold. You are brilliant. You are beautiful.' If my lower pooch is really popping out that day, I look at it and say, 'Pooch, you are cute!'
Confidence starts at home, and something my mother never did was look in the mirror and say she was ugly or fat.
What you see is what you get. I don't change who I am from public to private.
This is the thing: I know I'm paving the way for the next generation of girls, and they're not going to have to do this. That's what I hope. I'll take the brunt work and just handle it, and then you guys can just sail right on through.
My mom is the most positive person. She has always had a smile on her face no matter what came her way. After seeing that, I'm not going to let a little cellulite get in the way of my happiness!
Does any woman really just come in and say, 'I'm a plus-size woman?' Maybe as a defense mechanism or maybe as a way to kind of cope with fitting into society but... I just think it's divisive.
I have been so blessed not only to talk about things that I want to talk about in my industry, but also to have a platform - and people want to hear about it.
Back in Nebraska, I was known as the fat model - the girl who was pretty for a big girl. My body, like my confidence, has been picked apart, manipulated, and controlled by others who didn't necessarily understand it.
I don't think guys judge curvy women as much as women do. It shocks me how catty some women can be. In my whole life, I only had one guy break up with me over weight.
I had so many agents tell me that at size 18, I would never work or work again. I heard, 'Go home and lose some weight.'
I started dating at 16.
As a professional selfie taker, I know my angles. And I know how to look 20 lbs. heavier and 20 lbs. lighter. If Instagram wants to tell me I've lost 60 lbs. in one week, then damn, I look good.
I'm a confident woman with thick skin, and as a model in the public eye, I'm conditioned to accept criticism.
That's really truly what my message is - finding self love within yourself and not comparing yourself to others - because there's no such thing as perfection, because perfection doesn't exist.
We can't create change until we recognize and check our own actions.
To some, I'm too curvy. To others, I'm too tall, too busty, too loud, and, now, too small - too much, but at the same time not enough.
Honestly, at the end of the day, what I want women to know is that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. And that it should not define who you are.
I am just like any other woman, and I think I am the 'fattest woman alive' - but it is really about how you handle your situation.
You can be sexy and feel good in your skin, no matter what size you are.
When I'm traveling out of the country, a lot of guys give me a high five, and then they're like, 'I love your work!'
'A New Model' is saying that women should be confident in who they are and that they can be their own role models.
There are some days I feel fat. I'm not convinced there's going to be a moment where every woman in the world wakes up and feels like a million dollars. So, what I want to do is give women the tools that will help when those moments come up. Sometimes it can be as easy as telling yourself that you are beautiful.
I wasn't put on the cover of 'Sports Illustrated' as a plus-size model; I was put on the cover of 'Sports Illustrated' as a model, as a rookie, as Ashley Graham.
