Another day, another woman taking a bold stance in the name of body positivity.
British model Charli Howard has a history of speaking out when it comes to body shaming, and now she's shared a photo of her cellulite.
In a recent Instagram post, Charli writes, "They say do something each day that scares you, so re-posting this is mine for the day. Despite the fact I speed walk everywhere, squat, run and occasionally do @pure_barre, I'm still left with cellulite."
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She continues in her post by describing the intense shame she felt as a student at an all-girls boarding school where she felt surrounded by girls "whose bodies looked, to me, nothing less than perfect."
Further intensifying her feelings of shame about her own body was the way she saw women's bodies portrayed in magazines and other media.
"Whenever I opened magazines, the models and celebrities I saw didn't have cellulite either - and if they did, they were shamed in the tabloids because of it, or knocked off their perch by nasty journalists who probably have it themselves," she writes in her post. "As a result, I felt like my cellulite was shameful, or an oddity. It wasn't until I got older and saw other women's bodies that I realised HOW BLOODY NATURAL IT IS."
She concludes with some amazing words of wisdom when it comes to not letting your feelings about your cellulite rule your life: "Don't get me wrong - my cellulite isn't my favourite part of my body, nor is it something I shout from the rooftops about. But I know it doesn't make me any less ugly, or is something I need to feel embarrassed about. ✖️ So don't let it make you feel that way, either! In the words of my old pal Kendrick Lamar, "Show me something natural like ass with some stretch marks" 🍑🍑🍑💪🏼💪🏾💪🏿💪🏻💪🏽"
Last year, Charli spoke out against the body shaming she came up against within the modeling industry itself. In a video interview with the mother-daughter team Style Like U's "The What's Underneath Project," Charli shared how she became obsessed with her weight after her agency suggested she lose some pounds and the crippling shame she felt about her body as a result.
And in October of 2015, Charli's epic Facebook post saying "F--K YOU" to her former modeling agency went viral.
In the post, Charli made clear once and for all, "In case you hadn't realised, I am a woman. I am human. I cannot miraculously shave my hip bones down, just to fit into a sample size piece of clothing or to meet 'agency standards'. I have fought nature for a long time, because you've deemed my body shape too "curvaceous", but I have recently began to love my shape....Ironically, I do love modelling - the people I've met, the places I've visited and I am proud of the jobs I've done. I will continue to do it, but only on my terms. My mental and physical health is of more importance than a number on a scale, however much you wish to emphasise this. Until (and if) an agency wishes to represent me for myself, my body & the WOMAN I've become, give me a call. Until then, I'm off to Nandos."
Charli is now represented by Muse Management.
Related: Watch This Blogger Show How Cellulite Literally Vanishes in Different Light
