Model Activist Embraces Her Lymphedema

"I am a masterpiece." She's always embraced her curves, but her lymphedema diagnosis turned her into a model activist.

Transcript

00:00When I started dating, or being around guys,

00:03a lot of men were not open to me being different.

00:08They would look at me funny or ask my friend,

00:11like, you know, what's wrong with her legs?

00:13♪♪

00:23Every day, get in front of your mirror, butt naked...

00:27Yes!

00:28...and proclaim that I am a masterpiece.

00:31My name is Carmen Renée, and F-pretty.

00:34Life is short, so you better eat the cake, too.

00:37♪♪

00:44When people do ask me about my legs,

00:46and I tell them that I have lymphedema,

00:48most people have no idea what that is.

00:51I compare it to walking around,

00:53like, with a scarlet letter on your chest.

00:55♪♪

01:06That was the aha moment, because the answer is,

01:09I hate my body because some ridiculous beauty standard

01:13is telling me to.

01:14I want to have my cake and eat it, too.

01:16I want to be a big girl and be confident

01:19and be curvy and be healthy and, you know,

01:22be fat and be happy.

01:23All of these things are very possible.

01:25♪♪

01:31It's just a very free and open place for me to post

01:36and embrace my body, all of my body.

01:40There's a lot of lingerie and implied nudity

01:44because I think that it's important

01:46that big people are normalized,

01:49not just in clothes, but outside of clothes, too.

01:52I want to show people, women especially,

01:55you can feel sexy, you can feel loved,

01:59and you can embrace, you know, every inch or every roll

02:03or every dimple of cellulite just how you are today.