Ashley Graham has been hitting the gym for a very long time and it’s not because she’s conforming to society, but because she just wants to be healthy. The plus-size model skyrocketed to fame thanks — in part — to her work as a body positive advocate.
Graham is known for speaking out against body discrimination in the fashion industry, especially during a time when non-sample sized models were ignored.
Throughout her journey, Graham has overcome great difficulties both professionally and personally, but ultimately paved a path to body acceptance for other women and girls to look up to.
As she began increasing her workouts and appeared to lose some weight, fans became worried that Graham gave in to the Hollywood body ideal. Many fans applauded Graham for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but others worried that Graham stepped up her workouts for the wrong reasons.
Fans even began saying that Graham was “changed by the fame” and is trying to lose the curves that made her famous. They also claimed that her changing figure hurt the body positive movement she so strongly stood for.
In the star’s most recent body-shaming incident, one anonymous troll said, “We thought you work out,” implying that Graham was still chunky despite all daily exercise routine.
In a smart and classy clap back, the American model replied: “Girls with cellulite and rolls can’t work out also?”
This isn’t the first time Graham has spoken out about how she enjoys exercising for benefits other than fat loss. The model has stated before that she works out to “stay healthy, feel good, get rid of jet lag, clear my head, show big girls we can move like the rest of ‘em, stay flexible and strong, have more energy.”
By: Maytinee Kramer
