ashley graham.Photo:TODAY with Hoda & Jenna
TODAY with Hoda & Jenna
Ashley Grahamis getting real about the importance of representation for a young girl.
Graham showed hostsHoda KotbandJenna Bush Hagerthe doll that was made to mimic her features. “She’s got thick thighs," the mom of three said. “She’s got a round butt. She has lower belly fat.”
While most of the features Graham asked for with her Barbie came to life, there was one request that Mattel wasn’t able to meet. “The one thing I did ask for was cellulite," she explained. “But they couldn’t do cellulite.”
When asked about her reaction to the Graham-inspired Barbie, the Nebraska native explained that she would’ve had a different sense of self-worth “if I would have had a Barbie that looked like my body shape growing up, I think my mind would have not been as traumatized.”
ashley graham.TODAY with Hoda & Jenna
TheAmerica’s Next Top Modelalum continued: “And I wouldn’t have looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘Why do I have this and she has that?’ “
Graham, who has admittedly “become more confident” over the years, also detailed how motherhood changed her view of herself.
“Having kids, my body has been all around," she began. “It’s been this, it’s been that, and then back again. I’ve just been able to say thank you to my body because I’ve done so much. And being able to tell my story has enabled so many women to tell their story, and to find confidence within themselves. I’ve got saggy skin on my stomach. I’ve got cellulite all over my body. I’ve got stretch marks everywhere and that’s okay because my body is my body, and I have embraced it. I want little girls to know that.”
In May 2022, Grahamopened up to PEOPLEabout how much her body has changed since becoming a mother.
“My body has changed so much,” she told PEOPLE. “I have much more gratitude toward my body because of how much work it’s been through, but it has definitely taken time to, you know, look at my new body, and my postpartum body, and recognize it again.”
Graham is a mom to three boys:Isaac,3, and twin boysRoman and Malachi, both 1, whom she welcomed with her husbandJustin Ervin.
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Barbieis set to hit theaters on July 21.
source: people.com
