Sports Illustrated's first plus-size cover model reveals a dark side of the industry

Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Ashley Graham is a top supermodel.

She's helped shift the way the people perceive curvy women by breaking ground as the first curvy woman to cover Sports Illustrated and Maxim.

She's become something of an ambassador for embracing one's own shape.

But in Tuesday's Lenny Letter — Lena Dunham's newsletter — she wrote about her experiences becoming a successful model and of the ugly side of fame.

Graham says she's been criticized for being too curvy, being too thin, and everything in between.

"To some I'm too curvy. To others I'm too tall, too busty, too loud, and, now, too small — too much, but at the same time not enough," she wrote. "When I post a photo from a 'good angle,' I receive criticism for looking smaller and selling out. When I post photos showing my cellulite, stretch marks, and rolls, I'm accused of promoting obesity. The cycle of body-shaming needs to end. I'm over it."

Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesUltimately, she wrote, "I am more than my measurements. I'm not Ashley Graham just because I'm curvy.

"For the past sixteen years, my body has been picked apart, manipulated, and controlled by others who don't understand it. But now my career has given me a platform to use my voice to make a difference. We can't create change until we recognize and check our own actions. If you see another woman taking a selfie or a photo in her bathing suit, encourage her because she actually feels beautiful, don't give her the side eye because you think she's feeling herself too hard. Why waste time and energy spewing negativity? Let's worry about our own bodies."

She ended the letter by saying: "My body is MY body. I'll call the shots."

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