This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Leeds chapter.

Scrolling through Twitter one day, procrastination finally winning its battle with revision, I saw a picture of the incredibly beautiful Robyn Lawley (pictured below). She was promoting her new cookbook called ‘Robyn Lawley Eats’ – showing off both her beauty and her passion for food. Lawley is an Australian model who loves eating, fashion and her body. A UK size 12, she has always been labelled in the industry as a plus-sized model. Let that sink in for a moment. This gorgeous, successful woman who is THREE sizes smaller than the women’s UK average is labelled as ‘plus-sized’ by both modelling agencies and the media, and we, as women, are failing to question it.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. The more I looked into the world of plus-sized modelling, the more I was shocked. In America, any model larger than a size 6 (a UK size 8) is considered plus-sized by most modelling agencies – an absolutely ridiculous standard that forcibly pushes hundreds of naturally slim girls into the underweight category. Year upon year we are told by women’s magazines to be ourselves, and yet the very same publications hire tiny models and tell us to ‘slim down for that man’ or ‘diet your way into that dress’. Fashion, media and beauty corporations have hijacked women’s self-worth and are now selling it for a profit on hangers, in bottles and spread across the glossy pages of magazines. And the worst part? We continue to lap it up. Being consistently targeted with these products and images is not only harmful for our body image, but it is harmful for our state of mind. This system of buying our dreams is frankly dangerous, and it needs to stop. Thankfully, there is an amazing new healthy body movement sweeping not only the modelling and fashion worlds, but the worlds of everyday women who struggle to accept their bodies. As I soon found out, Robyn Lawley and her message represent only the tip of this fabulous iceberg.

A wealth of campaigns is, at long last, calling for women to recognise that their bodies deserve love and respect instead of starvation and punishment. These movements have been launched to help women realise that being healthy doesn’t mean looking like someone else. It means being active, happy and accepting that your body shouldn’t have to fit into a ‘type’ – it is yours and it suits you. Whether you’re naturally a size 6 or naturally a size 16, the most important thing is that you are proud of it. No more shame – instead it’s all about owning your body.

The first, and fastest-growing, of these new movements is “The Healthy Is The New Skinny Campaign”, launched by Katie H. Willcox (pictured above and below). She also manages her own modelling agency in Los Angeles, called Natural Model Management. Katie encourages her models to find a healthy balance between their life and their bodies, and knows from first-hand experience that being a model that isn’t skinny enough for the catwalk or large enough for the plus-sized image can be difficult. She wants people to embrace their natural body sizes and, above all, value themselves. This is the core message in her incredible campaign, which is currently taking social media by storm.

The Healthy is the New Skinny campaign was started by Katie and her husband to promote the message that a healthy mind is more important than anything else. Its aim is clear: to banish the idea that self-worth comes from size and beauty through re-educating girls and women about body image and exposing the reality behind the ‘perfect’ images that advertising and media companies broadcast around the world. As stated on their website, the campaign wants to eliminate the subconscious belief of many women that ‘I am never enough’. Katie wants to inspire girls to see themselves as beyond their size – capable of being so much more than just the number on the hanger.

This wonderful message has had a truly global reach. In Britain the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, recently launched by Sport England, is encouraging women to get involved in sport and get active. This is in response to the unfortunate stigma regarding women who exercise; a stigma that says women look funny, or sweat too much, or are not as good as men, or even that they are too ‘macho’ and not ‘girly’ enough. The ‘This Girl Can’ campaign seeks to extinguish these ridiculous lies and wants to make women love and respect their bodies through exercise. No more shying away for fear of judgement – it is time to show the world that women are strong and powerful by getting active. The campaign website provides practical information about a huge range of different sports from climbing to kayaking to orienteering to zumba, and it shows that age, size or looks should never be obstacles to living a healthy lifestyle.

Finally, it would seem that the truth, that of being healthy doesn’t mean forcing yourself to be a specific size, is coming out of the shadows. The women starting these movements have truly hit the beautiful nail on the head, revealing that ‘ideal’ and ‘perfect’ bodies are deliberately constructed to make us aspire to unattainable and unhealthy heights. These campaigns need as much support and publicity as they can get if they’re going to make a real and lasting change, and that support needs to come from all of us by promoting this healthy body message and supporting each other. More than that, however, these women and their campaigns want you to do one incredibly important thing – love your body.

I’d like to end with a quote from Katie Willcox: “The biggest mistake we ever made wasn’t wishing to be a Victoria Secret Angel. The biggest mistake we made was believing we didn’t have wings of our own. If you know you have strong, loving, capable wings of your own, they are unable to sell you theirs.”

If you want to know more, then here are websites for all of the people and campaigns mentioned:

1. Robyn Lawley:

An interview with Ellen Degeneres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg3tdqWSi6k

Her website: http://robynlawley.com.au/

Her food blog: http://robynlawleyeats.tumblr.com/

2. Kate H Willcox:

Healthy is the New Skinny Campaign: http://healthyisthenewskinny.com/

Natural Models Management: http://naturalmodelsla.com/

3. This Girl Can:

Website: http://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/

Advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7lt0CYwHg

Image Sources: