#WhatIWantedToWear: The Skin I’m In

RuPaul once said “we all come into the world naked and the rest is drag.” In thinking about what I wanted to wear, I found that what resonated most deeply wasn’t how I dressed my body up in drag, but how I felt about my body itself. As a survivor of body terrorism, I often think about whose bodies are devalued, criminalized and ultimately destroyed.

While I have learned to celebrate my body, the journey to radical self love wasn’t easy. In fact for the majority of my life I internalized the shame of being too fat, too black and too intersex for mainstream America. Everyday in ways big and small I was told that my body didn’t belong in their bathrooms, on their airplanes and especially not on their runways. However since relocating to NYC earlier this summer I’ve become one of the first plus size trans models of color.

I believe that when we show up whole and authentically we allow others to do the same. That’s why I’ve decided to unapologetically display my dark skin, my stretch marks and all my lovely lady lumps. This nude self portrait has become one of my favorite pictures because it signifies the moment when I learned to love my body in all of it’s melanated glory. So if anyone else asks me WIWTW, my answer will definitively be #TheSkinImIn.