15 Curvy Celebs Who Embrace Their Shape and Make Us Cheer for #BeautyBeyondSize

People
4 years ago

For some reason, society puts a lot of emphasis on size, even though the same clothing size in various stores fits completely different measurements. Sure, the body positivity movement has paved the way for curvy women, but until they stop being called “brave” for loving themselves, our work here is far from over.

We at Bright Side turned our eyes toward the famous goddesses who help us feel more confident by simply being themselves and their words of self-love are something every woman needs to hear.

1. Amy Schumer

Schumer isn’t opposed to joking around about her size, which has served as material for many sketches on her Inside Amy Schumer show. However, once, when a person on Instagram criticized her appearance, she didn’t stay silent and powerfully clapped back: “I like how I really look. That’s my body. I love my body for being strong and healthy.”

2. Jennifer Lopez

For years, both men and women have been admiring J-Lo’s shapely figure. Although she’s proud of how she looks now, there were times when she was insecure about her larger-than-average bottom: “I remember thinking I wasn’t thin enough because I had curves. But I’ve learned that being healthy and feeling great aren’t about having one specific body type — it’s a completely individual thing.”

3. Kelly Clarkson

The famous singer has gone through some weight fluctuations throughout the years, but they didn’t affect her beauty. Being in the public eye, Kelly knew she had to tune out the critics who always had their eye on her weight change: “I’ve just never cared what people think. It’s more about if I’m happy and I’m confident and feeling good. That’s always been my thing. And more so now, since having a family—I don’t seek out any other acceptance.”

4. Beyoncé

Beyoncé became one of the biggest inspirations to curvy women after coining the word “bootylicious” and even officially getting it into the dictionary. She’s always stayed true to her shape and proudly flaunted her gifts to help others love themselves as well. She once said: “We do not value ourselves enough. Especially young people, [who] don’t really appreciate how brilliant our bodies are.”

5. Demi Lovato

Lovato struggled with eating disorders for nearly a decade, but came out victorious on the other side. She used to look down on herself and doesn’t want this to happen to other girls like her: “I was on Instagram and I started comparing myself to these IG models. I thought to myself; someone needs to show my fans and anybody that’s looking at my account that what you see isn’t always what’s real.” So Demi took the lead and posted her own un-retouched photos with the caption: “No thigh gap for me, and yet I still love myself.”

6. Lena Dunham

The Girls creator admits that she has a complicated relationship with her body, but she accepts it as part of the process, and at the end of the day remembers to love herself: “I’ve never called myself ‘body positive,’ because my relationship with my curves and scars isn’t overtly political— it’s wildly personal. And it isn’t always positive. I take enormous comfort in the body positivity movement, but I think of myself as something more like ‘body tolerant.’”

7. Mindy Kaling

The shapely Ms. Kaling showed everyone that you don’t have to be a size 0 to be the star of your own show. She’s dealt with insecurities her entire life, but now she’s confident and successful: “Being called fat, being called not pretty, these are just weapons that men can use against women that we can’t use against them. I am fairly impervious to when people say those things about me, because it’s like, well, I was born this way and I can’t really change that.”

8. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah’s words of wisdom need to be taught in schools: “I think of all the years I’ve wasted hating myself fat, wanting myself thin. Feeling guilty about every croissant, then giving up carbs, then fasting, then dieting, then worrying when I wasn’t dieting, then eating everything I wanted until the next diet. All that energy I could have spent loving what is.”

9. Lizzo

The successful singer knows all too well what it’s like to want to be someone else. It took her accepting her own body to become an unstoppable woman who’s now enjoying the fame and, most importantly, herself: “I remember one day being like, ‘This is it.’ 20-some-odd years of me believing that one day I can wake up and be some other girl. It’s like, you’re not gonna wake up and be bigger or smaller or lighter or darker; your hair’s not gonna suddenly grow down past your knees. You’re going to look this way for the rest of your life. And you have to be OK with that.”

10. Serena Williams

The legendary tennis player sets a stellar example for her daughter by being proud of her body and celebrating it for everything it has helped her achieve: “I was constantly told I was too muscular, or I wasn’t pretty enough to be a tennis player. I learned to ignore the negativity and look inwards to truly love myself... I love who I am... I love my body, my skin, my confidence and I fully embrace everything about me.”

11. Ashley Graham

Graham became the first ever plus-size model to be featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and since then she’s made the entire fashion world play by her rules. Ashley promotes beauty beyond size and preaches to women that they need to be happy and healthy: “It doesn’t matter what size or shape you are. You can be healthy. It’s not just about our size. It’s about our mind, our heart, our emotions. We get so wrapped up in this size conversation.”

12. Melissa McCarthy

McCarthy never allowed Hollywood to dictate how she should look. She’d already won 2 Emmy Awards and had been nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar, before she decided to lose some weight. Melissa has a full control over how she looks and knows she’s her own woman: “With women, there’s this constant weird cultural thing where we’re always supposed to be comparing ourselves with one another. Who wore it best? Whose butt’s better? Instead, how about if everyone wins? How intensely boring would it be if we were all the same?”

13. Iskra Lawrence

Lawrence is currently a successful plus-size model, but she didn’t start out that way. Previously, Iskra struggled with trying to fit into fashion standards. It was a difficult time for her, but she was strong enough to accept herself and that’s when she finally found her spot in the sun: “I was so confused about why my body was curvy. That’s when I became obsessed with my weight... When I looked in the mirror, I hated what I saw. [One day] I was like, ’Okay, I’m different, and that’s what’s going to make me work.’ I never wanted to diet again. Once I convinced myself that I could do this, I was able to convince [the agencies].”

14. Rihanna

RiRi once confessed that she has an unstable figure, which makes it easy for her to gain weight: “I actually have had the pleasure of a fluctuating body type, where one day I can literally fit into something that is bodycon, and then the next day — the next week — I need something oversized; I need a little crop here and a high-waist there to hide that part, you know?” Still, it has no control over her confidence and she doesn’t let it bother her.

15. Christina Aguilera

Aguilera has also had to learn how to live with frequent weight gain and loss. Funnily enough, she realized that whatever size she is, someone will always be unhappy, but she knows that it’s only her opinion that matters: “I’ve been through my highs, I’ve been through my lows... Being too thin. Being bigger. I’ve been criticized for being on both sides of the scale. It’s noise I block out automatically. I love my body.”

Have you ever struggled with self-acceptance? What helped you love yourself and stop caring about the opinion of others?

Comments

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When we are told to be slender, its NOT because its pretty..BUT BECAUSE Its healthy to be slim.

Fat, invites diseases..and I'm a doctor and research student, So i know what I'm talking about.

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4 years ago
This comment is beautiful but so out of place.

As a doctor, i think you heard about eating disorders. People are fat, not because they don't want to be fit. They're fat because eating too much is something they do to deal with a traumatizing event that happenned in their life (rape, incest, lost of a loved one... ). That's the same reason people drink too much or become addicted to drugs or horse races... Noone said that being fat is healthy. But as a doctor, you shouldn't focus only on the size of a patient, but on the story of their life, if you want to help them become fitter. Being too fat or too slim is a symptom, not the disease.

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4 years ago
Hidden for the greater good.

Look at that slim Yogi girl picture instead.

Not that anorexic model photo you uploaded , i know why you uploaded that picture - That argument fallacy is called Red Herring. So that you'd divert from the topic to a NEW topic. Too bad i dont fall for such tactics.

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year ago
Oops, the admin pressed "delete".

You're saying its okay to be obese and fat. IT'S NOT. Everyone deserves to have healthy .

By giving a false and invalid point you can't deny that any factor isn't something to be okay with. its not. Don't give any excuses. its bad for those people.

Factors that contribute to this fat can be many. Whether its from any disorder or disease. BUT that DOESN'T mean its healthy. IT'S NEVER HEALTHY.

I'm sure you were triggered because you're fat too. but there are ways to lose weight.

Fat is fat. and that fat isn't healthy, its a storehouse for diseases. So a story of their life can be a factor BUT NOT AN EXCUSE.

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I'm not fat. I work in an association that helps people with eating disorders, from anorexia to binge eating. Doctors always bashing fat people for being fat don't help. They contribute to increase the problem because they're supposed to help. Fat people know that they should be fit. But how can they do it, if they're afraid to go to the doctors, where they always hear the same thing again and again ! Oh your feet hurt ? It's because you're fat ! You have a headache ? It's because you're fat ! You have painful period ? It's because you're fat ! Without even analyzing any information ! There are many ignorant people out there. But doctors shouldn't be like that !

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Doctors save your life. You can't just generalise when you aren't even on our platform. ( Only brilliant students can enrol in med schools. )

Go ahead! treat gangrene, typhoid and cholera on your own. Can you do that ? No you CANT.

In this time of pandemic, it is doctors who are saving others and losing their lives ! So many doctors are dying while treating others. on duties 24/7. So show some RESPECT and gratitude.

Your grapes are sour.

Next time you insult a doctor, just remember - you've NO idea what it means to be a one

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Well... In this pandemic, some fat people are told by some doctors that's it's their fault if they got the virus. So yeah ! You're right. I'm not a doctor. I'm not pretenting to be. What do i know about the virus ? I'm just a human being trying to do my best to help others with what i have and accept them as they are.

Have a nice week-end, Doctor Faust (you surely know where that name come from ?)...

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You had no valid point in your latest reply , so what did u do ? you ACTUALLY replied for the sake of replying & to 'compete in argument' , AND said doctors are telling any fat person they have gotten that virus from their fat!!! lol! .. Do you think your lie is invisible? ? You know it yourself that you lied. Damn man I'm cringing so hard right now lmao

Yep, you're helping people by misguiding them about health and doctors.

btw thanks for those try-hard jokes , we doctors are usually busy saving lives so needed a break ;)

Have a good day, P.R Flo ?

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DaiTheFlu, to the brilliant doctor, just some friendly advice if you want to convince others of your brilliance, enroll is spelled with two L's, and generalize is spelled with a z, not an S. Lastly, if you are going to use parentheses, you must move them in closer to your sentence such as this (I seriously doubt that someone who cannot spell or use spellcheck is a brilliant doctor). I am glad to help out a brilliant doctor.

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I agree with most if what you’re saying DaiTheFlu, but I think that you should specify that you mean being overweight/obese is unhealthy, because a bit of fat on the belly, arms, legs, etc is fine (especially for women). It is being overweight that causes problems like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

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3 years ago
Shhh! The comment is asleep.
year ago
This comment is too shy. It's hiding.

You know what doesn't help with self-acceptance? That articles that "cheer on" curvy actresses actively choose ridiculously unflattering pictures for some of these women. Was that really necessary?

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