On Monday 20th June I received a call from Light London, Alex Light’s size-inclusive swimwear brand. I was informed that Laurence Fox had included me and two other models in a set of harmful – and quite frankly disgusting – tweets.
Laurence stated that he was put off from eating his lunch because of the sight of our bodies while looking for swimwear for his “Mrs” – there is a lot more I could write here, but I won’t stoop as low as he chooses to on a daily basis.
When I got the call I had no idea who this man was. I googled him and it all became astonishingly clear; this man (who has previously made several statements which have been interpreted as racist and/or misogynistic) was just doing what he does best. He was trying to leverage an image, especially one that he does not own, to make a bigoted point about his own shortcomings.
Initially, I was unaffected by the tweets but as the day progressed it saddened me. I began to question how in 2022, we continue to have so many believing the fatphobic messages that leave their own mouth, spewing such negative vitriol about people they have never met, or know nothing about. I also wondered why people like this often have such noteworthy platforms.
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I'm no stranger to receiving comments surrounding my appearance; I'm radically unapologetic in the Black plus-sized body that I possess, and the way I move around – taking up space – has a way of making many people (who are often not happy within themselves) uncomfortable.
Since successfully campaigning (alongside Gina Martin and Alex Cameron) for Instagram to change their nudity policy to stop discriminating against Black, plus-sized content creators two years ago, I have had a tremendous amount of support. But sadly, there are still those who believe I am promoting obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.
The only message I put out into the universe is one of love and of loving myself and the body I inhabit; I cannot change it nor would I want to, though I did try for many years. I suffered from disordered eating from the ages of 16 to 21, where I would equate my weight to my worth and I only felt beautiful when I was a smaller size and not eating.
That view mentioned above is a view that many STILL hold today including the likes of Laurence Fox; to be preferred and to be considered beautiful is to be thin… that view is untrue, damaging, and harmful. There should be no judgment or assumption around another person's health or beauty based solely upon their size.
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I'm well aware that in the society we live in, a majority of people believe that beauty equates to slimness, thus anyone who dares to exist outside of this idea is dubbed unattractive. I can't count the number of times people have said “Nyome your face is beautiful, I see why you're a model.” Yes, I am a model and I do have a face but I'm not a floating head, I have a beautiful big body that my head is a part of. This backhanded compliment that tells me that my face is the only reason I'm a model is fundamentally untrue. My entire being is the reason why I'm a successful model.
My job has afforded me the opportunity to be on billboards and platforms, showing that plus-sized Black women can be comfortable in their own skin. I've had the privilege of working with a number of brands, including global ones, which align with my desire to showcase different types of beauty and womanhood.
I’d like to believe that as a society we're progressing; that the dominant fatphobic rhetoric is slowly coming to an end. Sadly however, I know better than this. Until we are able to see ALL bodies represented within social media, the fashion industry and society at large, people like Laurence Fox will continue to feel emboldened to spew such hate with their chests. I wont allow this; we must call out fatphobia wherever we see it.
It took 30 years for ‘skinny’ not to be my life's mission.
