Instagram is flooded with people’s pictures of the perfect pout, pose, sassy selfies, bootylicious bodies and all things beautiful. And these “beautiful” people have countless followers and get a crazy amount of “likes”. Some might argue, that these are the conventional standards of beauty, something that we are programmed to believe due to years of conditioning. And there are some who dare to challenge these set notions of beauty. These women who would be termed as far from perfect, as per the usual mainstream beauty standards are proud of they way look and are, trying to redefine what’s considered beautiful and what’s not. Kudos to them for doing so as they serve as inspiration to the not-so-perfect folks, and guess what, their popularity continues to soar on social media. Recently, unconventional beauty and model Winnie Harlow grabbed eyeballs as she sashayed down the red carpet at Cannes. Let’s take a look at some women who challenge conventional looks on social media...
Winnie Harlow
It was host Tyra Banks who discovered Harlow on Instagram and featured her on the 21st cycle of America’s Next Top Model in 2014. Chantelle Brown Young, better known as Winnie Harlow, is a vitiligo spokesperson and an activist and suffers from vitiligo since the age of four. For her endeavours in spreading awareness about the skin condition, Winnie was presented with the Role Model award at the 2015 Portuguese GQ Men of The Year event. The 23-year-old has appeared in multiple music videos by Eminem, The Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce. Harlow currently has 3.3 million followers on Instagram. Recently, the Canadian model stunned onlookers and stole the show with her metallic dress with a long flowing train, at the Solo: A Star Wars Story premiere at Cannes. She wore a custom creation by Lebanese designer Jean Louis Sabaji.
Harnaam Kaur
This multitalented British model is also anti-bullying activist, body positive activist, life coach, and motivational speaker. Harnaam suffers from polycystic syndrome, which can trigger excessive hair growth on the body, and in her case, excessive facial hair. The 27-year-old got people notice and talk about her on social media, challenging traditional beauty norms by starring in a bridal shoot in 2015.
“I decided to keep my beard and step forward against society’s expectations of what a woman should look like. Today I am not suicidal and I do not self harm. Today I am happy living as a young beautiful bearded woman. I have realised that this body is mine, I own it, I do not have any other body to live in so I may as well love it unconditionally,” Kaur told Rock ‘n Roll Bride, alternative bride Blog and print magazine. Today, she boasts of 113k followers.
Viktoria Modesta
She’s known as the world’s first bionic model and began modelling since she was 15. Since childhood, Viktoria had problems with her left leg undergoing around 15 surgeries and in 20017, she had a voluntary below-the-knee leg amputation to improve her mobility and safeguard her future health. The 31-year-old singer, songwriter and performer has been credited with changing perceptions of beauty and disability. In 2014, she released a music video, Prototype in which she challenges preconceptions of disability and sexuality. Modesta has 80.6k followers on Instagram.
Khoudia Diop
She is a Senegalese fashion model and actress, who was mocked and teased for her dark skin since her childhood. That changed when Diop moved to France at the age of 15 and was offered suggestions that she become a supermodel multiple times due to her unconventional look. Expressing pride in herself, the 21-year-old nicknamed herself “Melanin Goddess”. Two years ago, Khoudia moved to New York City to pursue college and was featured in a campaign for The Colored Girl Project, making her a hit on Instagram. Last year, she was featured in an advertising campaign for French cosmetics brand Make Up For Ever. Currently, she has 548k followers on Instagram.
Tsunaina
This non-traditional beauty is striking because of her unique facial features — her flawless complexion, broad forehead, big pouty lips, broad nose structure and beauty spots on her face resembling a constellation — making her, a photographer’s delight. Tsunaina was street scouted and ended up walking the ramp for London Fashion Week. The Tibetan model has 185k followers as of now.
Mariana Mendes
This 24-year-old unconventional Brazilian beauty is the latest to be hailed as a social media star in the past few days. Mendes was born with congenital melanocytic nevus, a type of birthmark which occurs in an about one per cent of infants worldwide. In her case, the birthmark appears on the centre of her face. While many people are embarrassed and struggle to accept their birthmarks and try to get them removed, Mariana has embraced hers with confidence, takes pride in it and encourages others to do as herself.
“I have always been aware that I have a birthmark, but it has always been something that has made me feel more special. It’s a different kind of beauty. I choose not to cover it up because I know that the birthmark is part of me. I know it’s a piece of me. It’s part of my personality,” Mariana was quoted as saying. She works mostly as a print model for clothing designers and she has launched a career as a digital influencer with 31k Instagram followers and the numbers keep rising.
Sophia Hadjipanteli
It was Cara Delevingne who grabbed eyeballs globally because of her bushy eyebrows back in 2011. But Sophia shone on Instagram with her bushy unibrow spearheading the #UnibrowMovement last year. She is an American, with Greek roots. When she was 18, she was featured on Vogue Italia. The 21-year-old revealed that her monobrow incurred her ridicule on social media and some people accused her of poor hygiene. “I’m not really doing this to show people that they have to like [my unibrow],” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “I am more so doing it to show people that they can get on with their lives by having a preference. I personally think my face looks better this way. Others disagree, and that’s totally cool,” she added. So far, Hadjipanteli has amassed 183k followers.
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 "Winnie Harlow and Harnaam Kaur")
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