For Teen Vogue, by Lauren Duca.
Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/@darlingiknow
Meet Cailey Darling, a plus-size blogger, who has amazing green hair and absolutely no tolerance for nonsense.
Last week, she posted a photo in a Gabi Fresh swimsuit, only to be bombarded with hatred by in the comment section.
The initial post was a simple review: Cailey shared her size and some notes on the fit for her audience. Soon, total strangers thought it was OK to weigh in our her health, and Cailey was not having it. Instead of letting the negativity get her down, she posted more photos, promising to continue holding her head high.
"I hope seeing someone fat and happy and still standing after hundreds of hateful comments and messages can help someone in their own journey to loving themselves and shedding other people's opinions of them," she wrote in one caption. "Trolls can go ahead and see I've posted myself in this suit three times before and your hatred for my body or my health for whatever reason will not keep me from posting, wearing the suit, eating, or living my life unapologetically so your comment does nothing but waste your time."
Instead of focusing on tearing down her critics, she used their nasty words to spread a message about kindness.
"Once I started actively trying not to judge others based on appearances, I slowly started to see beauty in the people around me," Cailey wrote in a follow-up post. "Soon enough, I could look at a body like mine and see beauty where society told me I wouldn't find it. It took a long time to apply those concepts to my own body. It started with letting go of judgement of others."
Amen to every last word of that. For more inspiration -- and awesome swimsuits! -- follow Cailey (@darlingiknow).
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