Challenging Beauty Standards Quotes

'Sports Illustrated' decided to have curvy women not only in their magazine but on the cover of their magazine. Now, that means size diversity is here, and it's real, and it's not a trend.

If everyone were not so indolent they would realise that beauty is beauty even when it is irritating and stimulating not only when it is accepted and classic.

I wasn't put on the cover of 'Sports Illustrated' as a plus-size model; I was put on the cover of 'Sports Illustrated' as a model, as a rookie, as Ashley Graham.

I would love to see women be able to be powerful, complex, smart, opinionated and taken seriously, even if they are beautiful. Even more, I would love to see women held to different standards, other than the superficial ones that we're held to.

I want to start a trend of women as we really look. Some good things, some not so good. I am tired of looking at frozen faces.

I don't believe stuff should be made for the perfect model. I think that's where we go wrong right now in this day and age: We make stuff that's not realistic. I always told myself, if I ever did a fashion show, I'm not going to have models. I'm going to have regular-sized women.

I made my living being 20 or 30 pounds heavier than the average model. And that's where I got famous.

My hope is that the work is in some way counter-pinup. A pinup asks you to suspend interest in who the person is and occupy yourself entirely with looking at the body and fantasizing about what you could do with that body, completely ignoring how the person might feel about it.

I'm kind of the model that everyone thought would always be the Guess, 'Sports Illustrated' girl. Then, when I started to do high fashion stuff... people were like, 'Oh, so we can have a girl with, like, thighs and a butt in a Tom Ford campaign. Cool.'

I know there are a lot of eyes on me now from young girls, and it makes me so proud. The only Black woman examples aren't Rihanna and Beyoncé. It makes me proud that I am a classical ballerina and they can look at me and see another way to succeed. That is setting a new standard.