It seems like every time a woman larger than a size 2 posts a picture of her body she is commended for her bravery. Recently, Amy Schumer spoke out about body image and how “it isn’t brave to have a little belly fat” after she was described as being brave for her semi-nude photo by Annie Leibovitz in the Pirelli Calendar.

I’ve shared pictures of myself in a bikini on social media before to celebrate my journey to body acceptance and have been told that I’m brave for doing so. I found this comment to be rather insulting to the women who are truly exhibiting bravery in this world. There are women who are fighting cancer, standing up to civil unrest and risking their safety to protest the harassment and assault of women–those are acts of bravery. Posting a picture of myself in a bikini? Not so much…is what I used to think.

I thought that using the term “brave” to describe a woman showing off her “imperfect” body perpetuated the notion that only women of a certain size should show skin. I thought we were doing a disservice to body positivity by considering it daring to accept it. I wanted more from the body positive movement.

Read the rest on the Huffington Post here>>>