Everyone should listen to what body activist and model Ashley Graham has to say

Meet Ashley Graham.

She's a model (often dubbed plus-size) and body activist. You might recognise her from one response to the 'beach body ready' advert from Protein World.

She recently gave an excellent TEDx Talk where she argued that it was probably time to drop the phrase 'plus-size' altogether.

Curvy models are becoming more and more vocal about the isolating nature of the term 'plus-size'. We are calling ourselves what we want to be called: women with shapes that are own.

On becoming a model and body activist, she said:

I felt free once I realised I was never going to fit the narrow mould that society wanted me to fit in.

I was never going to be perfect enough for an industry that defines perfection from the outside in. And that's OK, rolls, curves cellulite, all of it. I love every part of me.

There is no one perfect body, because I like you possess a wonderfully unique and diverse physique. Now the fashion industry may persist to label me as plus-size, but I like to think of it as 'my size'.

On her reasons for speaking out, she said:

My goal is to give a voice to young women, to give a voice to young women who struggle to find someone they can look up to. For girls who struggle to look inside the mirror and say 'I love you'. For women who feel uncomfortable expressing their confidence they locked away inside themselves.

You can watch the full talk below:

More: [Meet the plus-size model making history]1

More: [The women on a mission to revolutionise the modelling world and end 'plus size']2

More: [Plus-size fashion blogger teaches the internet a thing or two about what being brave means]3