“My arms were half their size and I had a thigh gap magically”
Even drop dead gorgeous model Iskra Lawrence deals with bullies sometimes!
Early this week, she opened up about her awful experience with an Internet troll and now she’s telling all about an insensitive photographer who insisted on editing her image to appear thinner.
“I remember I took an editorial and I was so excited,” she told Seventeen. “I got the pictures back and I looked in the magazine, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ My arms were half their size and I had a thigh gap magically and all these crazy things.’”
She had been Photoshopped so intensely that not even her loved ones could identify her: He retouched the hell out of them. My family went out and tried to find my pictures in the magazines, but no one could recognize me.”
When she asked for the unaltered images, he refused to send them.
“I said to him, ‘I don’t feel like I can use these. Can you send me the raw files?’ and he was like, ‘No, I’m not comfortable with that,’” she explained. “I was kind of like, ‘Oh okay, so you don’t think I’m good enough un-retouched?’”
Luckily for Iskra, she found Aerie Real an their Photoshop free campaign that loves her and her body just the way they are!
“After so many years of being rejected and having my body scrutinized, for Aerie to come along and basically say, ‘we accept you, we don’t care about your size,'” she said. “It’s been incredible.”
“I just was like, ‘Wow. I finally feel good enough!’ It was just such a moment for me,” she continued. “That’s why it really makes me emotional and really means so much to me because for so long I struggled with myself.”
No matter your age, gender, size, race, sexual orientation, body shape, etc., you’re ALL so beautiful now! Don’t feel the need to edit yourself or change who you are for anyone.
We love you, Iskra. Thanks for being such a great role model!