I decide how I'm going to be me
on my terms without anyone's permission
Now, more than ever, you're starting to see this
push back and people are fighting against
the typical beauty standard.
Owning my bold was something that I'm really glad
that I chose to do.
I am who I am
and I really want to own that.
I'm Samantha McMeekin and I'm the deputy beauty editor at GLAMOUR UK.
My name is Callie Thorpe. I am a plus-size style blogger.
My name is Chidera,
popularly known online as the Slumflower and creator of
#SaggyBoobsMatter
The world teaches women that we are objects to be consumed
rather than bodies to be lived in.
That's very, very evident in how
women are presented in advertising.
#SaggyBoobsMatter is a hashtag I created
because I found that so many women who
had a very similar frame to me were very
unhappy with their bodies.
It started from one Instagram post where I wrote a caption
whilst wearing this really cute, yellow, deep-plunge dress
and I was like: "My body exists for me.
"I don't have to prove my beauty to anyone. I didn't come here to be desired",
and I ended it with
#SaggyBoobsMatter
People came in with all the abuse and the insults.
I deserve comfort and I want to choose resilience.
I don't want to have to back down and cave and let people tell me how I should be myself.
Owning my bold and maintaining confidence is an everyday struggle.
Growing up, I kind of didn't feel pretty or feminine
because from such a young age we're taught that we aren't good enough,
we're not small enough, we're not pretty enough,
we're not this, we're not that.
Using fashion, for me, has been a way to express my boldness.
I had a holiday booked to go to Barbados with my boyfriend and I was really self-conscious.
I felt the lowest about myself and I had to find swimwear to wear.
I was so scared but I bought the bikini
and I wore it on holiday and I had never worn a bikini before in my life,
but the biggest, most scariest part of it all was I actually shared it online.
I was petrified, I was actually shaking.
I remember the moment when I posted to my private Facebook;
I was like, 'Oh my god everyone's gonna see me in my bikini,
I'm too big to be in a bikini!'
I posted it online and I had such positive feedback,
and I had these amazing messages from women writing to me to say
that me wearing it could encourage them to wear it.
I felt a weight lift off me because I realised that
I could love myself exactly how I was.
When a lot of people find out what I do for a living
they think, 'Oh she's just a beauty editor, she writes about lipstick and foundation'
but it is so much more than that.
To me my job is about
shaping today's beauty perception.
Growing up as a kid there was a certain 'ideal' type of beauty
but today there's not one type of beauty
and I want people to know that they can look however they want to look
and be however they want to be.
I own my own bold by instilling confidence in other women through my work.
I have to be really vulnerable and put myself out there
whether it's on camera or whether it's writing an article.
Social media is not only such a big part of the media industry now
it's a part of everyone's daily lives and I think what
started off as a curated version of our lives
is now morphing into something more real and everyone's showing a more
real side of themselves.
I'm really glad that I've been able to
connect with so many women who have had the same experience as me.
I'm in a position where I'm really
comfortable in my body and I want to
help other people reach that point.
Representation really matters
and me putting myself online and showing myself in swimwear
not just changed my life but it helped me change other people's.
I'm open to so much criticism every day and I could get loads of negative comments
but as long as I get that one person saying: 'You've really helped me',
then that's when I feel empowered and that's when I feel most bold.
I want to influence people in a positive way
so that they leave my Instagram page or social media page
feeling good about themselves.
I do believe you can be feminine and bold
in the same way you can be sensitive and strong
and that's something that we should try to celebrate more.