I’m no stranger to showing a little skin.

The first time I showed what most people would deem as "too much skin" I was at Brighton Pride in the UK.

I walked around the city of Brighton in nothing but a sheer skirt, high-waisted underwear and sparkly pasties.

The reaction that I received from complete strangers was so positive and body affirming that it started my body positivity journey.

I was a size 22.

The next time I showed just as much skin was on my Instagram and the reception was far from positive.

The hate comments, the fatphobia and worse, the DMs from people fetishising my body were relentless.

I now use my Instagram account to inspire people to feel comfortable in their bodies regardless of how much or how little clothing they wear.

Because the body that you have and what you decide to put on it, should not be an indicator for how you should be treated. Yet, clearly, even though it’s 2021 some people don’t seem to understand that.

I am the kind of fat person that goes out in a crop top and a miniskirt because it makes me feel sexy.

I am the kind of fat person that will post photos of myself in lingerie on my social media because it helps me to feel empowered.

I am not the kind of fat person who shows skin to be sexualised or treated poorly because I have made the conscious decision to embrace my body.

No woman or person should suffer because of what they’ve decided to wear.

Bras N Things recently asked 1025 women what they think and feel about sex, sensuality and the freedom to express themselves. They found that 67% of them agree that women are overly sexualised and to combat that there is a whole community of people on the internet and in real life who are pushing back, reclaiming their bodies and celebrating their skin for the miraculous entities that they are.

Hashtags like Bras N Things ’ #IAmManyThings (and another I've seen is Jameela Jamil’s #iweigh) show women celebrating not only their bodies but everything else they have to offer the world.

This kind of representation is vital to empowering others to love themselves and to showing society that there is more to a person than the skin that they are showing.

I am a woman who feels empowered when showing my skin.

Sometimes people have trouble looking past that to see that there is more to me than meets the eye.

I was once in a group chat where I was regularly objectified by "friends" because of the way I dressed.

It took one of my actual friends jumping in to point out that I have a Master's Degree and a brain for them to stop objectifying me.

These women were lesbians. Misogyny exists in queer spaces too.

I’m two years into my self acceptance journey so I don’t post as many physically exposing pictures as I used to but when I do, the reaction is still the same, actually, since I joined TikTok, the comments have gotten worse.

People on TikTok are brutal. Nevertheless, the pattern is the same; there’s a deluge of comments about how fat and disgusting I am followed by an influx of new male followers (whom I swiftly block).

It’s an interesting existence to be simultaneously considered repulsive and a fetish. Yet I continue to post.

I continue to post because I am the author of my own story and my story does not end with the negative opinions of strangers on the internet.

My story is one of highs and lows as deep as the rolls on my body, rolls that I flaunt every chance I get, because I can.