Plus size models who posed topless how to#

And I definitely recognize my privilege and that I’m white, I’m upper middle class, I’m femme, I have a pretty classically beautiful face, and a classic hourglass figure. I went to a school where I was truly the fattest kid there, or maybe was like one of three fat kids out of literally the entire school. For me, as a fat person, especially a fat femme, absolutely.

'I think that to live in this American society, to say that unrealistic beauty standards, to say that the diet industry, to say that capitalism, basically, doesn’t affect you is to be in denial. Have these homogenous depictions in media affected you? I get a lot of pleasure out of modeling, and I think it’s really fun and I think it’s really important, especially with these stock photos, because stock photos are so often homogenous, for lack of a better word.'

'I’m more than happy to pose for people, and I do really enjoy it and I get a lot of pleasure out of it. What about when it comes to modeling for these stock photos? I think that, you know Barbie Nox, right? She’s tweeted something about how modeling is great, but that’s not how she wants to change the world. 'I struggle calling myself a model because…okay, I don’t know if I struggle to call myself a model because I am not doing as much work as 'models.' There’s just so little representation of bodies, of my specific kind of body, in modeling that it’s like, 'Can I really call myself a model?' I don’t really want to be a straight model. What’s it like to be a plus-size model in the industry?

Plus size models who posed topless how to#

I’m just not quite sure how to do it, but I would really like to.' This year I really think is going to be my year to break more into the scene. 'I’ve written for a couple of my friends’ zines - not, like, big zines, just a couple of zines - and very, very small college literary journals. I don’t want to be a writer, but I want to write…I want to change the world.' 'It’s kind of up in the air, but I’m most likely going to go the English and gender studies route. The 20-year-old is quick to point out that the industry has long been dominated by cis, skinny, heterosexual women - but now it's their turn. In a way, that's exactly what's happening. The model is equally as honest over the phone, talking rapidly like someone who finally got the chance to speak during a conversation at a party. Mandel features in the sex and intimacy section of the project (officially launching in February), which is fitting, since their internet presence heavily grapples with body image, sensuality, and a brazen openness about sex as a queer, plus-size, non-binary person. The collection aims to diversify stock photo depictions of beauty, fashion, sex and intimacy, and women’s health - showing more realistic imagery of the human experience, and a more accurate portrayal of the lives of readers. The model appears in Refinery29's newest No Apologies Collection, an expansion of the 67% Project in partnership with Getty Images. After a just a few minutes of chatting, it's clear they will. During our conversation, Hayley Mandel tells me no less than three times that they want to change the world.