Who To Follow: Vol VII
It’s October (officially spooky season), and I thought I’d focus this month’s Who To Follow on celebrating our bodies, and giving you a list of wonderful, unapologetically real and body-positive womxn to follow and help you fill your feed with self-acceptance and honest reflections on self-care.
The Naked Diaries (@thenakediaries)
The Naked Diaries, started by Taylor Giavasis (the environmental body positive social media activist) is a platform focused on the visibility of body positive practices, also dealing with issues of mental health and feminism. The posts, featuring a wide variety of bodies and self portraits, are from different personal accounts, and each person captions their own photos to reflect on their body and their way of thinking about body positivity and mental health in relation to that.
Sonalee is a trauma therapist based in Philadelphia who has never hesitated to spread their beliefs on radical fat liberation. A mix of graphic texts, memes, and self portraits, Sonalee’s account is a beautiful empowering body positive account that everyone should follow because it is so easy to stray into self-deprecative thoughts on social media if you only follow influencers and models.
Eliza is a queer artist based in Berlin, working with the visual arts, tattoos, and food. Their account documents their relationship to food and their body through posts about art, self-reflection, mental health, and recipes. Their self-portraits are amazing, unapologetic, self-affirming works of art.
Taylor, the founder of @thenakediaries, is a social media influencer turned activist. She has documented her entire pregnancy journey on her instagram, reflecting on body image and self care, and how it has been affected by the growing child inside of her. She’s recently given birth to a beautiful baby boy and has continued to curate a strong birth and body positive instagram as she enters the fourth, often forgotten, trimester. A must follow for all the mamas out there or anyone else curious about how one carries on self-care after bringing a child into this world.
Sydney Grace (@ohhhhhhhhhoney)
Sydney is a social media influencer and model bringing light to plus-size fashion and sustainability. A refreshingly real influencer account, Sydney is great to follow for outfit inspiration, thoughts on size inclusivity in the industry, and radical self-love practices.
Barbie Ferreira (@barbieferreira)
Barbie ! Ferreira ! The iconic model, actress, and body positive activist we don’t deserve. Originally an American Apparel model, Barbie grew to become a recognized voice for the plus-size community, unapologetically calling out brands in the industry for fat-shaming and excluding bigger models. You might know one of her most iconic lines in the HBO show Euphoria: “There’s nothing more powerful than a fat girl who doesn't give a fuck.”
Molly-Margaret (@whatswrongwithmollymargaret)
A sex positive, gay poet, Molly-Margaret spreads her musings on sex, body image, recovery, and mental health through her instagram posts. She is always providing her followers with thoughts and education on topics ranging from sex toys, menstruation, books, and dating as a queer femme.
The Womanhood Project (@the_womanhood_project)
The Womanhood Project is another must-follow, beautiful, body-positive, mental health advocacy platform. Based in Montreal, the website features interviews with a wide variety of individuals and their thoughts on themselves, their bodies, and their journey towards self-care. The interviews are in French and English, and are accompanied by specially curated film portraits. I personally worked with them when I lived in Montreal and am so proud to have been a part of such a wonderful positive platform.
Kenzie is a Canadian actress, writer, and activist, spreading her thoughts and beliefs on mental health, self-love, and science. Her instagram is a breath of fresh air on a platform that can easily get toxic and heavily curated. Her posts are extremely honest, and range from memes, self portraits, illustrations, and reflections.
Mónica Hernández (@monicagreatgal)
Mónica is a NYC based artist and activist. Establishing herself as a voice for the Latinx community, her art and instagram reflect her beliefs about bodies and questions of identity. “Mónica’s paintings speak about the taboos put onto her identity and body as a Caribbean woman growing up — the fear ingrained behind the concepts of sex, religion, body hair, menstruation, acne, and innocence.”
Carla Gras is a writer, creator, and photographer with roots in NYC, MTL, and PRG.