March: What to watch, stream, read and listen to this week
March: What to watch, stream, read and listen to this week

Sarah Finnan

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‘My cup is empty’: It feels like the entire world is burned out right now

Sarah Finnan

Supper Club: Roasted spaghetti with baby clams
Supper Club: Roasted spaghetti with baby clams

Meg Walker

Stylist Laura Jordan on her favourite fashion finds
Stylist Laura Jordan on her favourite fashion finds

Sarah Gill

3 leading Irish businesswomen on why it’s time to redefine the idea of ‘luxury’
3 leading Irish businesswomen on why it’s time to redefine the idea of ‘luxury’

Shayna Sappington

Sustainable Style Spotlight: IrelandsEye Knitwear
Sustainable Style Spotlight: IrelandsEye Knitwear

IrelandsEye Knitwear

What is the IMAGE Business Club? We answer your FAQ’s
What is the IMAGE Business Club? We answer your FAQ’s

Dominique McMullan

How to talk about money and why women need to
How to talk about money and why women need to

IMAGE

How to stop getting in your own way
How to stop getting in your own way

Niamh Ennis

It’s Aries season – your month to go harder, better, faster, stronger
It’s Aries season – your month to go harder, better, faster, stronger

Clarisse Monahan

Image / Beauty

Watch: Plus Size Model’s Inspiring TED Talk


By Jeanne Sutton
22nd Jun 2015
Watch: Plus Size Model’s Inspiring TED Talk

It’s been a while since a TED Talk truly had us standing up strong after watching, but Ashley Graham’s recent speech on body image is a bit of a game changer. Graham is one of the fashion industry’s leading plus size models – although it’s a label she’s not terribly keen on. In her speech she implores her audience and society as a whole to look beyond the plus-size paradigms. In fact, she wants the average woman, who would generally fall under the plus-size umbrella, to discard the term, and embrace ‘my size?.

Makes sense, doesn’t it? Yet, why do we continue to lambast ourselves on a daily basis for not being advertising image perfect?

Graham opens her speech with her greeting herself in the mirror, acknowledging her curves. And praising the deserved hell out of them. Throughout her ‘story?, Ashley reveals how her status as a plus-size model made her initially uncomfortable until she realised “there’s no one perfect body.”

(Here’s Ashley rehearsing for her TED Talk.)

It took her years to realize she was beautiful and to embrace how she looked. Which incidentally is incredibly sexy. Ashley has garnered high-profile campaigns, as well as magazine covers around the world. ?I love every part of me,? she says about her body confidence now. Here’s hoping the rest of us indulge in the same self-love fest after watching her in empowering action.

 

Follow Jeanne Sutton on Twitter @jeannedesutun