Curvy Sense Doll Profile - Taylor T: Growing Up Plus Size In Korea

As a company who has made itself available to plus size women around the world, we believe it's important to celebrate said women. With our first #CurvySenseDoll Profile we're pleased to introduce you to aspiring plus size model Taylor T., of South Korea.

This beautiful young woman works in foreign affairs during the day, while for the past couple of months she's been hustling as a model in the barely-there plus size market of Korea. She says, "It is hard for me to find modeling work here since potential employers think models should be size 0-6 and the Korean fashion market is quite uniformly conservative." She explains that curves are deemed "too sexy" and plus size bodies represent an "unhealthy lifestyle". She hasn't even told her whole family of her new career goals, worried about the criticism, particularly after confiding in her brother who laughed at her pictures.

Living in this environment, growing up plus size was a huge struggle for Taylor. She describes her experience as "wearing a fat girl mask," it's what people saw first and so they judged and bullied her for it - a sentiment plenty of women around the world can relate to. She attempted to fight back against the hate, but this garnered her a reputation for being "aggressive" and "tough". While she tried to be strong, her parents had a harder time at ignoring the negativity and supporting her as she was. 

"My parents... would become upset when hearing such comments from others; they would then return home and stop me from eating. They sent me to a so called “diet school” to make me look like "normal" kids...They kept saying that I am beautiful, but they just could not endure seeing me being bullied by other kids. They just wanted me to be loved and normal because being normal is everything in Korea."

Check Out Taylor's Cosmopolitan Korea Feature HERE!

While she understands body shaming is universal, as many societies have adopted similar standards of beauty, she believes Korea is on another level. She describes Korea as being a country that equates plus size to laziness, and mentions that it can often be seen as "criminal". She notes that it is definitely worse for women, and finds it, "reflects the patriarchal structure of this society. I see women who are crazily obsessed with diets who quite often think, 'As long as we are in good shape, we can be treated properly. Only a slim body can ensure our social acceptance.'"

Thankfully, she has been able to find self love, and become an advocate for body positivity in Korea. It certainly wasn't easy, she says, "I used to refuse to look in the mirror. I kept thinking 'Why don’t I look same as the women in ads?' I tried diet pills, I seriously considered liposuction, and I used to waste my time photo shopping all of my pictures." Over time, she has grown in to her skin and says, "I have come to learn that I am my own best friend. No one knows more about me than I do...  If I don't love myself, who else will love me?"

Couldn't have said it any better! Wishing you all the best Taylor, thank you for sharing your story with us! We're so glad we can be a reliable source for plus size clothing for you.

You can follow Taylor and her journey on her Instagram page: @beyoutiful_t, and no matter where you are in the world Curvy Sense has you covered for all your plus size fashion needs!