Couple's beach photo inspires a wave of body love
A photo of a curvy woman and her lean, muscular husband is going viral for its empowering message of self-love.
Jasmine Owens, 25, an accounting student in Honolulu, posted the image to Instagram over the weekend. In it, Jasmine wears a colourful bikini — the first one she’s ever worn on a beach — while walking along the shore with her husband, Keenen, 24.
The caption reads: “Over the years this man has loved every curve, every roll, and every stretch mark on my body. I never understood why! How could he love something that isn’t ‘perfect?’ How could a man who was ‘born fit’ love someone like me! I don’t have a flat stomach, I jiggle when I walk, hell if I run up the stairs to fast my body claps (lmao)!! But now I see I do have the ‘perfect’ body!! Every roll, every curve and every stretch mark is put on me just perfect to make both of us happy!!! I love my body and I finally see why he does too!!”
The image prompted more than 60,000 people to share their thoughts — both positive and negative — on the couple’s different body types. “You are my inspiration!” one noted, while another wrote, “Beautiful couple. So inspiring to all sized woman out there.” Yet another fan weighed in with this: “Thank you for posting this! I’m still struggling with body positivity when my partner is conventionally handsome — seeing this makes me feel that I can get to a place of happiness without insecurity with him too someday.”
Some criticised the couple of six years, calling Jasmine unhealthy, and even accusing her of posting a “fake” photo.
But Jasmine tells Yahoo Beauty, “I shared the photo because I’ve been trying to find love within myself for a while. I was tired of dieting and wanting weight-loss surgery, and Keenen was always telling me to remove my beach cover, so I finally did.”
Although Jasmine and Keenen attended elementary, middle, and high school together, they didn’t start dating until their senior year and have been together since. Now they have two children, a 3-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son.
Jasmine has attracted 31,000 Instagram followers along her body-positive journey, but baring it all on the beach was a huge step. “I’m fine posting bikini photos on Instagram because you can always ignore the comments,” she says. “Wearing one in real life was scarier, because there’s always a chance someone will judge you.”
Still, she’s happy she did. “I’ve gotten messages from young teen girls calling me their role model,” says Jasmine. “So I’ll keep sharing my photos.”
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