14 DAY TRIAL // Growing up, Courtney Mina was shyer than the typical teenager, and that’s mostly because she didn’t have the confidence she has today. You see, Courtney is, as per her own words, fat. Unlike today, when she started an Instagram revolution by posting photos of herself in underwear, back then, she used to hide her body under clothes many sizes larger, in the hope she would pass unnoticed.
In recent years, Courtney has grown into a body-confident young lady, one who isn’t afraid to take her haters head-on and to attract attention to her body. She wants to continue the revolution she started by telling the world that beauty isn’t only sample size, by reaching out to all heavier women to let them know they should take more pride in their bodies.
“There is nothing wrong with my unique body”
Courtney conducted the Instagram experiment mentioned above a couple of months ago, detailing the results in an op-ed for Bustle. She said it so herself: she never expected the positive feedback to outweigh the negative kind, and she was happy to see it happen.
Speaking to People magazine the other day, the blogger and model says her idea of posting underwear shots of herself for a full week didn’t stem from exhibitionism or some desire for public validation, but rather from her desire to spread a positive message.
That would be that a fuller body could be just as beautiful as a thin one, and that, as an owner of one, she had as much right as a skinny girl to show it to the world, dressed in whichever way she wanted.
Her experiment was more of a statement on society’s notions of beauty, a silent protest. It paid off.
“I've reached the point already where I know that there is nothing wrong with my unique body, and I have every right to celebrate it and love it as everyone else does,” she tells the publication. “I truly don't understand why everyone tries to conform to look the same way all the time, it's so boring.”
Courtney Mina wants to inspire
In real life, we don’t look the same, the plus-size blogger continues, so why should there not be plus-size girls posing like skinny girls do?
Now that she’s achieved her goal with the Instagram experiment, Courtney says she plans to continue with what she started.
The idea now is to “inspire” other women to embrace their curvy bodies just like she also did, and there’s only one way she can do that: by continuing to show them that she, at her size, is happy, confident and feels as beautiful as any other, much thinner woman she might compare to.
Giving face in this black, lacey dream lingerie from @additionelle ~ part of the @theashleygraham Collection. Bam. #curvesreign #plussize #plussizefashion #plussizelingerie #curvycastingcall #fatshion #fatfashion #plussizeappreciation #fashiondemocracy #psmodel #psfashion #curvylingerie A photo posted by † Courtney Mina † (@khaleesidelrey) on May 5, 2015 at 1:46pm PDT
The best kind of dropout. Get yours at @chubbycartwheels ^_^ #curvesreign #chubbycartwheels #dietindustrydropout #plussize #plussizefashion #fatshion #fatfashion #bodypos #psmodel #effyourbeautystandards A photo posted by † Courtney Mina † (@khaleesidelrey) on May 4, 2015 at 8:49am PDT