Curvy model Hunter McGrady calls out Victoria’s Secret: ‘We all have wings of our own’
Fifty-five gorgeous women walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show, which airs on Tuesday night, but Hunter McGrady is reminding everyone that sexy comes in all sizes.
McGrady posted an Instagram shot of herself wearing a matching black top and bottom and wrote, “Happy Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show day and if you are watching: Remember you are beautiful in your own body whether you are tall, short, curvy, athletic, slim, have cellulite, stretch marks, scars, or not! We all have wings of our own! Go on with your bad self, Angels.”
More than 7K people liked the image and admonished the brand for a one-size-fits-all beauty standard. One person wrote, “Take note! Your brand needs body diversity more than anything else. Seriously, the lack of diversity is in poor taste, and honestly, it’s hurting your profits. You know it. We know it. So let’s start accepting ALL bodies as beautiful.”
A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady) on Nov 28, 2017 at 8:17am PST
And one woman emboldened by McGrady, wrote, “Thanks to this post I’m ordering plus size red lingerie (hugs).”
Body-love is one of McGrady’s well-known beats — the 26-year-old blonde, who is the curviest model to ever appear in Sports Illustrated, is as passionate about body-positivity as she is about her smoldering career.
But on the day of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, McGrady’s words are especially relevant.
Earlier this week, plus-model Ashley Graham pointed out to the lingerie brand that she hadn’t yet earned her Angel Wings, with an Instagram photo featuring her walking the 2016 Addition Elle runway with a pair of doctored feathers. “Got my wings!” she wrote cheekily in the post.
Got my wings! .. my #AdditionElle wings! #thickthighssavelives
A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Nov 19, 2017 at 6:47pm PST
The supermodel also starred in Lane Bryant’s #ImNoAngel campaign which was widely perceived as a sarcastic response to the company’s history of featuring thin models.
Still, in 2015, when asked by Yahoo Lifestyle if Graham would ever model for the lingerie giant, she said, “Absolutely! Call me!”
And earlier in November, plus-size model Natalie Hage wrote in an essay for Yahoo Lifestyle of Victoria’s Secret, “I want to come away from watching the show feeling sexy and powerful and that definitely doesn’t happen for me. I consider myself a very confident and self-assured person and the parade of some of the most gorgeous women in the world with their flat stomachs, perfect long legs, and cheekbones for days still hits me hard. The most difficult part is confronting the fact that they look nothing like me.”
It’s unsurprising then, that a glimpse of stretch marks — scar tissue that 80 percent of people bare — spotted on Victoria’s Secret model Lais Ribeiro last week, made national news.
A post shared by VSArgentina Since: 1/8/2016 (@victoriassecret_passion) on Nov 23, 2017 at 6:40pm PST
Obviously, it’s not just models who feel burned by universal beauty standards. According to new research conducted by Chapman University in Orange, Calif., many women feel worse about their bodies after viewing images of thin models wearing bikinis.
“Studies show repeatedly that women overestimate the level of thinness that men find attractive,” study author David A. Frederick told Yahoo Lifestyle. “While most men likely agree that the typical Victoria’s Secret model is attractive, they also have their own set of idiosyncratic preferences about the other body types they find attractive.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Who’s who? Cindy Crawford and daughter Kaia Gerber are lookalikes in yearbook photos
Emily Ratajkowski wears just a red bikini bottom in ‘paradise’
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