Model Iskra Lawrence: Social Media Is "Dehumanizing"
It's hard not to smile at photos of Iskra Lawrence. The model just beams positivity, whether she's posing in underwear for an Aerie ad or making a goofy face on her hugely popular Instagram. And that cheerful nature isn't limited to smizing in fashion campaigns: She's also a vocal advocate of body acceptance.
Lawrence, who was one of the judges for Redbook's Real Women Style Awards, sat down with this year's winner Sharifa Murdock and last year's winner Christine Buzan to talk about about body image, social media, and which fashion brands are finally catching up to the needs of their one-size-does-not-fit-all consumers. In case you missed it, you can watch the whole conversation right here - or keep reading for a few of Lawrence's wisest words.
She Thinks Social Media Can Result In Distance, Not Intimacy
"You're very dehumanized when you're on social media. People forget that it's you out there. The more I put myself out there, the more hate I received," said Lawrence, who regularly gets cruel comments on her photos, as if she's not a real person attached to her accounts. "If you place your value in Likes and followers, you're never going to be happy."
Her Trolls Are Typically Male
Surprise, surprise: ladies are not usually the ones writing insults on her page. "I don't get it off women, I get it off men," she said. "I get if [from] misogynistic men who think I'm posting for them. They think I'm just an image-they don't understand what I'm trying to do, or that I have a voice or message."
She Doesn't Respond to Haters... Except That One Time
"Ninety-nine percent of the comments I just delete, report the person, delete, ignore, block. I just stay away from it," Lawrence said. "It was a shock at the beginning. I would say, Who are you to say that? You don't know me! But then it got to the point of, this is not a personal attack. This is someone who is negative... I feel bad for those people. They clearly need help themselves and they've got insecurities."
Though Lawrence typically resists the urge to respond to any of this nastiness, she once got a letter from a young fan in pain over particularly brutal comment on Lawrence's Instagram. "[The troll] had gone in hard: 'You're the reason that healthcare is effed up, you need to stop eating crisps and put down the McDonald's.' I thought it was funny, it was so excessive." But in thinking of the young girl who was really hurt by the words, she posted a sassy reply:
She Worries That Audiences Can't Even Spot Retouching
Lawrence is a spokesmodel for American Eagle, a brand that takes pride in not retouching its models, but she also draws attention to the common practice by uploading before and after pics. "I've done it before: 'Do you think this is retouched?'" she said. "People can't tell the difference."
But Normal People Are Retouching, Too
The photo-editing craze isn't just for professional ad campaigns, she said. "I've known guys who have gone out on a date, they're meeting a girl online, and they don't even recognize her," Lawrence said. "What kind of life is that? To lead a perfectly flawless life online but in the real world you're not happy with yourself? You can't retouch real life."
She Thinks Every Woman Is a Real Woman
Lawrence is famous for her curvy body, but there's some terminology in the body-acceptance movement that she isn't a fan of. "I always try to call people out - like, oh, 'You're a real woman because you have curves! No no no, that's not how it is," she said. "There was a girl bullied at my school because she was 6'2'' and rail thin. She did everything she could to put on weight, and she couldn't. I tried to get her into modeling and she was too tall." Yes, even the tall, thin girls out there may be suffering with their own self-image. "I see some of these models and I'm like, I'm so glad you have this confidence and you're able to do something positive over something you were bullied over when you were younger."
FLOTUS Inspires Her
"I love Michelle Obama," said Lawrence, who's British. "I love what she's done with the role that many other people have just, you know, stood there and looked pretty and did the right things... She's come in there and made such a huge difference. I just think she's awesome." And not one mention of those famously toned arms!
And So Does Simone Biles
Like everyone else in America (and on planet Earth), Lawrence is loving the best gymnast in the world, Simone Biles. "What I love about her story is that she's like, yeah, I put in six to seven hours a day to get here for that one-and-a-half minute routine," Lawrence said. "We forget that sometimes. Even the top models, the actresses - they've trained for years to get where they are... To really appreciate what a woman does to get where she is is such a nice story. It's what we need to be talking about. "
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