WATCH: This plus-size trans model has an important message about body positivity
A plus-size transgender model has opened up about body positivity and shared an important message that everyone needs to hear.
Shay Neary, who models and gives talks in New York, spoke to Revelist about coming to terms with her own body and the importance of self worth.
Her journey to self acceptance and love began when she “stopped caring what anyone else thought”.
she said: “You just have to accept that internal voice that’s telling you ‘I’m beautiful I love myself’.”
Neary said that she started to tell herself she loved herself every time she looked in a mirror.
“I don’t care if people think it’s egotistical. I know I look good,” she said.
“I don’t need to look good for them, I do it for me. That’s what it’s all about. Don’t do it for anyone else but you, because you’re the most important person.”
The model explained that before transitioning she never “looked in the mirror and saw a man in women’s clothing”.
“I didn’t know what I was before, but I know now looking in the mirror that I love my body,” she said. “I don’t think beauty has a definition. we’re taught what is attractive, we’re taught to judge.”
Neary went on to speak about feeling insecure, and how no one is perfect so it is bound to happen.
“Every day you’re going to find moments of insecurity. Every single day.
“Remember that you’re human, we’re not perfect, there’s no such thing as perfection. I don’t need to be perfect for people to enjoy me. I don’t need to be anything else than myself for people to understand and relate,” she added.
The model finished off by stressing the importance of self worth.
“If you don’t feel like you have a worth that’s a problem, we all need to feel that,” she said. “If I never challenged what people thought of me I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
