I am All Woman.
This is the slogan and hashtag of the All Woman Project, a project aimed at inspiring women worldwide to love and accept themselves, flaws included. The All Woman Project was started by Clementine Desseaux and Charli Howard, two models who were fed up by the unrealistic beauty standards often perpetuated by the modeling industry. Most women don't feel that the models in ads and magazines represent them, and Desseaux and Howard took issue with this fact. Desseaux, a size 12-14 model, has been modeling since the age of 12, and has long been an advocate for body positivity. Howard, a UK size 6-8, was dropped by her agency for being "out of shape". In a video that went viral, Howard strips down and discusses how she became obsessed with her weight and developed an eating disorder as a result of the pressure her agency put on her to constantly be thin.
On the All Woman Project instagram account (@allwomanproject) photos of models of different ethnicities, heights, and measurements are shared in all of their unretouched glory. Close up pictures of models' cellulite, stretch marks, scars, and other "imperfections" are shared with uplifting captions. Howard shares a photo of her stretch marks with the caption "love your stripes" in the photo below, and in another she shares a photo of her cellulite with the caption "Cellulite. Practically every woman has it, yet no one wants to talk about it. So here's mine. I used to hate it and feel so embarrassed and ashamed by it because I thought I was the only model/woman with it. WRONG!! Shooting the #allwomanproject taught me women get cellulite at ANY size..."
The All Woman Project also includes models such as Iskra Lawrence, the face of the Aerie Real campaign, Barbie Ferreira who also models for Aerie, Victoria Brito, Shivani Persad, and others.
According to NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association, 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991). When asked if they were afraid of being fat, 81% of 10 year olds answered yes (Mellin et al., 1991). There is an enormous issue regarding body image for young girls growing up in this world, and it is almost impossible to be unaffected by the images of what we believe is beautiful. It is almost impossible to accept and love yourself in a world where you constantly compare yourself to others. The modeling industry has made progress, but there is still much more work to be done.
Let the All Woman Project convince you, beauty is bigger than a stretch mark or the size of your clothes.
Find out how you can get involved with this project on instagram: @allwomanproject or on their website http://www.allwomanproject.com.
