Plus-size model and body activist Iskra Lawrence is waging war on impossible beauty standards
British model won’t let clients Photoshop her and promotes her message that women are ‘good enough as they are’ in schools and across social media, joining other proud, curvy woman such as Beyoncé and Ashley Graham
For years, images of incredibly slim, gorgeous, blemish-free women have filled fashion magazines, billboards and television screens.
Now, 26-year-old British model Iskra Lawrence is waging war on unattainable beauty standards in the fashion world, flexing her might on social media which as a medium is increasingly helping to fuel diversity.
Why are most fashion models still so white and thin when most of us aren’t?
Lawrence is among a growing number of plus-size models finding fame and calling themselves body activists who are promoting health and well-being. She also refuses to allow clients to Photoshop any of her images.
“The whole concept of Photoshop is an illusion,” Lawrence says. “They’re not flaws. They’re part of your body. We were just convinced by society and the media that there was something wrong with them.”
A post shared by i s k r a (@iskra) on Sep 8, 2017 at 8:56am PDT
According to 2014 figures from Seattle’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, around 57 per cent of women in the UK have a body mass index above the “normal” range. In the United States, that figure rises to 62 per cent, with the average American woman between size 14 and 16.