Listen to model Myla Dalbesio’s poem about diversity in beauty and feel empowered
This is Myla Dalbesio.
Beautiful.
Myla may look familiar because she is also a successful model.
In 2014, she began modeling for Calvin Klein, and shook up the fashion industry when she was marketed as the brand’s “first-plus size model.”
You can see one of Dalbesio’s statements on her Calvin Klein campaign in the Instagram caption below:
Dalbesio’s inclusion sparked a lot of controversy on the Internet, regarding whether she is truly plus-size when she only wears a size 10. Dalbesio’s modeling opened up a conversation about the “in-between model” who is not thin enough to be a typical model, but is not a size 14, either. In an interview with Elle in 2014, Dalbesio said:
“It’s kind of confusing because I’m a bigger girl… I’m not the biggest girl on the market but I’m definitely bigger than all the girls [Calvin Klein] has ever worked with, so that is really intimidating.”
Myla has used her platform to continue discussing body-positivity and smashing the patriarchy. On her Instagram, she frequently posts her collage poetry:
And most recently, Myla wrote an extremely moving body-positive poem for Allure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO3Plsbh96k?feature=oembed
Myla’s vocal delivery and physicality while reading the poem is riveting. The entire work is inspiring, and we highly suggest you watch and listen to the whole thing. But here is a transcript of some of our favorite lines written by Myla:
Where do you hold your beauty?
Do you see it when you look in the mirror?
Is it in your face, the depth of your eyes?
The hood of their lids, the pucker of your lips?
Is it in the pigment of your skin?…
The articulation of each digit
The bend of your knees
The curve in your hips
Do you see it in your body?
Throughout the poem, she imagines the body in different actions, different phases, and different shapes — ruminating on the beauty present in all bodies each time.
It is so incredible to see Myla Dalbesio use her role in the beauty and fashion industry to change its standards from within.
