Must-See Documentary 'Straight/Curve' Delves Into What Beauty Really Means

From Redbook

If you've been reading Redbook over the past couple of years, you know that highlighting diversity of all kinds (body shape, ethnicity, point of view) in our pages is incredibly important to me. It's a joyful experience to open a magazine - or watch a TV show, or leaf through a catalog - and see people who represent the whole gorgeous wealth of humanity. I wish it were something we encountered more often, in a lot more places, and I'm a wee bit annoyingly evangelical on the subject.

So I was thrilled to be included in the new documentary Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image, which aired June 21 on EPIX. The film explores how the fashion industry has been so slow to celebrate women of all sizes, and it features people who are trying to change that bias. The excellent Tim Gunn was interviewed too, as was designer Christian Siriano - one of the fabulous judges of our Real Women Style Awards, coming in September! - who has made a point of being inclusive in his own line.

I was proud to be part of the project, because I believe to my core that there isn't one set standard of beauty or one size that's "prettier" than all the others. Most women suspect there's something we're not getting right, and that's just not true. Our inspiring cover star, Tracee Ellis Ross, perfectly articulates how silly it is to follow the ever-changing rules of what's beautiful. "No one can keep up!" she says. "It's an arbitrary standard that is de ned by false ideas." Once she let it go, she discovered, "I got to choose for myself what makes me feel empowered."

To me, that's the definition of confidence: learning what looks great on you and embracing it, whether it's on-trend or happily unusual. I hope that this summer you relax, enjoy, and throw your arms around the things that make you feel beautiful. Ladies, you've earned it!

Watch Straight/Curve now at Epix.

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