It is the most powerful thing I've ever done in my life,
is learn to embrace my body, and I want every Australian to feel
that joy and that freedom and that sense of adventure, and that gratitude.
So, after I bought into those messages,
that told me I should look a particular way and that would make me happy again,
I trained my body obsessively, and I got the body,
but I wasn't happy.
When Taryn posted her non-traditional before-and-after photos,
it made headline news around the world. And I think it really showed
us that women of all different shapes and sizes should be able to love and
embrace the bodies that they have.
And what it said to me was,
it was a global epidemic of body shaming and people hating their bodies,
and it needed a bigger solution. I thought, well,
I'm a photographer and I love telling stories,
so what if I bring those two things together and make a film? Like,
how hard could that be? So I started a kickstarter campaign and the strapline was,
Embrace the documentary: The documentary that will create global change.
So I went ahead and watched it and my mind was blown. I was just like,
this is what I've been thinking and feeling. I think it just really opened my
eyes to trying to fit the beauty standards that are set for, not just women now,
but for everybody.
I thought it was just such a powerful and engaging piece, and I really wanted to
understand the impact that it had
at a scientific level. We know from the research that women who had seen Embrace
actually had much higher levels of body appreciation, and they'd gone on to help
other people too. And so there was just this really big ripple effect.
The way that she celebrates her body and what it's able to do,
and she talks about it being the vehicle to her dreams, and I just,
that resonates and lands with me really beautifully.
The message was so strong and powerful,
and I knew that by sharing her story, she would create change.
Now, it's so fantastic to see Taryn's message being brought into classrooms all
around Australia, and I think it's going to have a really huge impact on a lot of
kids' lives and on their body image as they grow up.
If we get in early to our kids,
we might be able to avoid all these issues and all of these problems that adults
are experiencing.
Taryn has taught me to not judge people based on what they look like, because
the most important thing is how kind they are.
I just like being different. I never wanna change.
And also I'm still very handsome.
I learnt that it's okay to be different. It doesn't matter what you
look like, it just matters if they're nice or not. Like if they're nice,
it's beautiful, you know?
Taryn's work really has the power to ignite change and to enhance the health and
wellbeing of the young people of today and tomorrow.
It's definitely made a huge impact on us,
me accepting who I am and making sure my daughter can instil those same
qualities, and be confident and comfortable in her own skin, and be herself.
I will forever be grateful that there are role models of women like Taryn in the
world for my girls to look up to. Not only have you changed my life
and my family's, you've changed the lives of thousands of people around
the world.