When a brand says, 'Our product is great, and we think it'll be great for anyone that loves it, too,' that's the ultimate marketing message.
— Rain Dove
Not everyone will see your beauty, and not everyone will find you attractive or believe you are worthy of their clothing or publications.
Clothing shouldn't be a societal shackle. It should be art and truth and a way for us to show the world what we want out of it. It's environmental armor.
I get a lot from people who are in oppressed situations and say they were gonna give up. A lot of people have reached out and said they were in bad situations and really need me to be successful.
Victoria's Secret is a brand, not a socio-political movement. But at the same time, there is that one-dimensional look.
Dove is encouraging people to set their own standards worldwide. To be their own unique selves. To not allow others to shame them for accepting their own bodies and styles.
I love high fashion. I want to do it, but in order to be able to make a change, you have to be able to talk to the masses, not the 1 percent.
I feel more comfortable in men's clothing, and I'm a lot of more convincing as a boy than as a gendered female. But with women's clothing, I feel more empowered.
I will conquer Femmeness... And then, I will turn it on its head and redefine it for the world to see.
You could ask a lot of people in my childhood, and they'd say I was very prudish about showing off skin.
I am a 100 percent determined to be a Victoria's Secret model.
All victims deserve justice.
The me that is me is not my body. It's an awareness and an experience.
The reason people wear the things that they wear and accept the standards that they accept is because most athletes make a good portion of their money in advertising and doing campaigns afterwards.
I want to tell people that there are more ways to be beautiful, there are more ways to be handsome.
Gender doesn't exist in my book.
Some people say there's a reason that Victoria's Secret wouldn't put me or any woman who doesn't fit within a certain spectrum on the runway.
Part of the beauty of Victoria's Secret modeling is that they are called 'Angels' for a reason - because they're aesthetics are supposed to be unobtainable. But so are mine. No one could ever be me. Look exactly as I do. Be exactly as I am.
Gender is a shackle.
I want people to realize that they aren't their bodies. They are something more than their bodies.
Being an androgynous model is one thing, but a lot of what we're up against is the way we stand for certain values, such as our sexualities, or if people with our look are common enough to be part of the consumer market.
I have nothing against the Victoria's Secret Angels. They're all beautiful people, and I respect where they are at.
My very first runway show, I was in 'Vogue.'
We've established a world that's binary gendered, and I don't want to be disadvantaged at all. If being male is going to be more advantageous than being female, I'm all about it. I don't really think it's that important.
I've been told I'd make a great parts model.
The way woman is defined by marketable modeling and commercial standards... It makes me feel alien to myself.
Confrontation makes me nervous.
I look like what we have taught society a lesbian looks like. I just do. I have the short hair. I got the muscles.
I identify with my body, but I don't identify it as male or female; I just identify it as a vehicle to help me bring my awareness around the world.
What it means to look like a woman or man changes regionally - from mannerisms to clothes to posture to makeup to even your vocals - so I just observe, and I replicate.
Designers and advertisers like the idea of my breasts, waist line, long legs, and long neck - but have literally made gagging noises at my facial features.
You don't see Victoria's Secret women running around with even short hair. That's too crazy for them.
My state of being is just unique.
I'm constantly told in the industry that I don't look like a woman, so therefore, I can't be put in editorials and campaigns because people wouldn't get it.
You have to be satiated with just being authentically yourself at the end of the day.
I hope, by never hiding, I can show there is never anything to be ashamed of when we are being our true selves.
When I get dressed, I don't think about what other people think. I only think, 'Is this me? Is this my truth? Am I able to move through this world with confidence? Am I able to move through this world feeling that I am I?'
When a lot of people wake up in the morning and put on their underwear, the first thing they feel that day is terrible about themselves. When you see that your body is not what other people want, it can be really devastating. I have so many friends that I grew up with who have had serious eating disorders.
My sex appeal lies in suits and ties, but my body is femme.
My name is Rain Dove, and my pronouns are just a sound. You can use whatever you want.
When I put on a dress, people have a lot of questions to ask, so I like putting on a dress just to get people to ask those questions and open up a dialogue.
During my career path, I've experienced first-hand what people deem as beautiful. It's not me. It's not most people. It's limited and small.
My body is sometimes this thing I look at and think, 'What strange, alien thing grew around my consciousness?' It's like this weird fungus that's just there.
Use she, he, it, one, they. You could call me mow mow, and I honestly don't care. A pronoun is just a sound. All I'm listening for in that sound is positivity.
Justice can rarely exist without honesty.
I find when I'm perceived as male in society, there is an enormous amount of pressure, but it comes with respect, so it's a balance.
The Olympics represent a global standard - for men, for women, for athletics.
The face of beauty literally needs to change, which means the way we think of beauty needs to as well.
I love the body I have.
I just see clothing as cloth, and I see it as art, and I see it as a way to express yourself artistically in this world.
