With so many brands like Torrid, Ashley Graham’s Swimsuits for All, and Gabby Fresh’s line, it’s hard to remember a time when there weren’t options for curve women to buy swimwear. Buy body activist Virgie Tovars remembers times like those–when she first began writing her book, and spreading the gospel of inclusivity and extended sizes, there weren’t mass brands jumping to include curvy woman. Tovars told KQED, “It is an act of bravery in this culture to wear a bikini as a fat person.”
Her book, “Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love and Fashion” was a sensation and one of the first books to speak truthfully about loving fashion and it literally not loving you back, periods of when she would starve herself, and her journey to finally loving herself and her body. But now that things have progressed, at least in the swim department, it’s a good feeling to walk into stores Tovars says. “To go out and participate in summer is really an important healing act of radical visibility. It is important for people to realize that every body is a beach body. All you need is a beach and a body.”
In particular, I find Tovar’s “Lose Hate Not Weight Babecamp”, an online, four-week program she created that examines the way people and the media refer to curvy women, diet culture and body shame while promoting body acceptance. And because of her increasingly popular status with women, who testify of how much she has helped them, she has come across quite a bit of haters. More specifically, men, who don’t understand why someone like her has an authority on being curvy and stylish and often suggest diet plans or trash her appearance on a Reddit page. But of course, that only makes us love her more; her tenacity, and passion for curvy women is seen not only in her book and tweets, etc. but even more importantly, her actions.
