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All worthy with Hunter McGrady is Yahoo Life’s interview series in which model and body positivity advocate Hunter McGrady chats with celebrities, influencers and friends about equality, confidence, curves and more.
As a plus size woman in the fashion industry, my weight has always been part of my identity. Not necessarily because I do it that way, but rather because of the way I have been labeled. For Queen Latifah, an icon in her own right, the journey has been similar.
Before Melissa McCarthy or Rebel Wilson entered mainstream media, I considered Latifah a source of inspiration and representation when it came to curvy women who seemed at home in their bodies. All along, however, the Queen herself has been encouraged to change her appearance.
“I felt that pressure and I was literally asked to lose weight, through my people the word came,” Latifah says. “Fortunately, I have people who say to me, ‘Yeah, that won’t happen. She’s not losing weight for you.'”
While we’ve seen people talk about pushing to lose weight in certain industries and even have those who champion body positivity and acceptance in Hollywood, these conversations weren’t taking place during Latifah’s heyday of fame. And yet, she wasn’t going to change for anyone else. Most importantly, she knew what presenting herself as herself meant to young women like me.
“It made me angry because I felt like I was fine. I’m what people are like,” Latifah said, reflecting on the pressure she’s under. “Do you want me to lose weight?” Why ? So there’s a whole bunch of women out there who won’t have anyone to relate to on TV, is that what you’re trying to get at? Honestly, I knew it from standing up, I was actually defending other people. “
Latifah’s motivation is similar to mine when I think back to my early days in modeling, the path I have come to not only accept but also love my curves and the work I have done to make sure I can. use my body and my voice to effect change in the industry. To me it looks like appearing in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, launching an inclusive clothing line with QVC and organizing the Model podcast with the goal of creating a safe space for conversations about the struggles so many women continue to go through as they navigate life in a larger body.
For Latifah, she used her talent to be the main lady so many people needed to see. Now she has joined Novo Nordisk’s “It’s Bigger Than Me” campaign to use her voice to educate people about obesity and break down the stigma attached to it.
“A lot of it is just because people are uninformed or uninformed,” she explains. “If they could figure out what’s really behind it, including ourselves. Judging us, shaming us, telling us we’re not good enough, we haven’t worked enough, we don’t “Haven’t tried enough. No, sometimes it’s not you, it’s your genetics. It’s your DNA. It’s your body.”
When it comes to her body, Latifah wants to “look good, feel good” and “be healthy”.
“Get to know yourself, not just in the mirror, but on the inside,” she says. “So now you have even more power to make decisions about your own body and how you really feel about it.”
–Video produced by Stacy Jackman
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