How plus-size model Denise Bidot talks to her daughter about body positivity

Photo: George Pimentel

Denise Bidot is the first plus-size model to walk multiple runways during New York Fashion Week, and more recently she co-starred in Straight/Curve, a documentary about body image and challenging standards of the fashion industry.

She’s had daily talks about self-love with her 10-year-old, Joselyn, since preschool. “I can see how these conversations have helped her own herself,” she says. But it isn’t always easy: Looking back at a scene in the documentary where mom tells daughter, “No, baby, you’re not fat,” Bidot says she should’ve taken a different approach. “I wish I’d turned to Joselyn and said, ‘What’s wrong with the word ‘fat?’ Why does that word upset you?’ The bright side is we have room to grow,” she says, adding that adults have the opportunity to work on our self-esteem while teaching this generation to love the things that make them unique.

Originally published in the Fall 2018 issue.