Growing up in leafy North London, 22-year-old screenwriter and body image activist Honey Ross had a sophisticated childhood. With each her mum and pop noted for his or her successes within the TV and film industries, she spent her youth somewhat in the general public eye, which she explains gave her a “huge desire for attention, but additionally incredibly severe anxiety.” So whilst spending her teenage years securing internships and odd jobs within the film industry – which paid off when she landed her first skilled screenwriting gig at 18 – her ambition was combined with crippling teenage insecurity and body image struggles. “I really hated myself growing up,” Honey says. “I believe it was a mix of that typical low-level teenage self-loathing, a myriad of mental health issues – some diagnosed, some not – and growing up in the general public eye. It definitely doesn’t help your already wilted self-esteem to read a whole bunch of negative comments about yourself within the Each day Mail online.”

The body positivity movement became a lifeline for Honey, one which allowed her to seek out love for herself and realise that it didn’t matter what shape or size her body was or what others considered it. Social media – namely Instagram – became Honey’s go-to space to share her personal experiences whilst also finding and connecting with others who expressed the identical self-love message. By posting unapologetic photos of her body, unfollowing toxic accounts and as a substitute following plus-sized models and feminist pages, Honey now sees social media as a spot to have fun the liberty she feels inside her body and share her advice to her followers who still struggle with an absence of body confidence.

“I believe concerning the period of time I used to waste serious about my appearance, how I wasn’t worthy of affection and respect – and now how liberated I feel that I can just exist in my body without giving a fuck what people think.”

Honey now spends her days campaigning along with her activist group Pink Protest, founded alongside activist Scarlet Curtis, Grace Campbell and Alice Skinner, for legislative change. In 2017 their campaigning for #freeperiods paid off with the UK government giving £1.5 Million to support period poverty and in 2019 they successfully pushed a bill through parliament to get FGM included within the Children Act. She is currently writing on her dream TV project – which is coming out soon – and above all, sharing her self love wisdom to her ardent Instagram followers. We caught up with Honey to speak all things body confidence. 

Growing up what’s the most important thing you’ve had to beat? How did you overcome it?
Honey Ross: I do want to begin by saying that I believe growing up is probably the most hellish thing and that teenagers needs to be awarded a medal for surviving and overcoming the multitude of hormonal fuelled challenges which are seemingly curated by a demon overlord. But, for me, I believe something I all the time struggled with growing up was definitely my weight. Which feels strange to take into consideration now, because my relationship to my body might be considered one of the healthiest relationships in my life now. But it surely was definitely not all the time like that – I really hated myself growing up. I believe it was a mix of that typical low level teenage self-loathing, a myriad of mental health issues – some diagnosed, some not and growing up in the general public eye. It definitely doesn’t help your already wilted self-esteem to read a whole bunch of negative comments about yourself within the Each day Mail online. 

I wish I could boil down the overcoming of this self-hatred into one quick easy solution, but truly, it took years for me to get where I’m in my body confidence. I’m very privileged to have the ability to go to therapy frequently, and on top of that, I even have very supportive parents. I believe the principal thing that strangely undid this toxic considering was sarcastically, losing a lot of weight – reaching that place that I’d aspired to be for thus long and realising that I still hated myself. It forced me to understand that my body was never the issue. The world had told me for thus long that each one my problems can be magically solved if I used to be thin, but as a substitute, I used to be offended, hungry and anxious. I just reached some extent where I realised, I used to be great before I’d lost weight – I used to be funny, kind and had loads going for me – but for some reason I didn’t see how great all that was, and neither did many of the boys I went to highschool with. Having that epiphany kicked me right up the arse and set me on a course of aggressive self-love. It didn’t matter what others considered me, it only mattered what I assumed of me – me and body are going to be spending the remainder of my life together, we would as well fucking love one another. 

When did you first change into aware of your appearance?
Honey Ross: I believe I became aware of my body and its otherness in our society in my early preteens. But on the other hand, I even have a really vivid early memory of trying on a college uniform in a store with my mum and searching at the way in which my stomach rolled under those harsh department store lights. I believe it’s very disturbing how from such a young age we’re taught to dissect and sexualise our bodies – even when it’s subconsciously. And growing up within the early 2000s when the principal media agenda appeared to be to pit women against one another, the room for me comparing my 5’8, size 18 body to my gorgeous gaggle of pixie-esque school friends definitely left me barely frazzled. 

How would you describe your relationship along with your body growing up? How has it evolved over time?
Honey Ross: After I take into consideration my relationship with my body growing up, my heart truly breaks for my past self. I put her through a lot shit, crash diets, cruel words and even occasionally self-harm. I just need to hold teenage me and tell her that she deserves the world. But I try and give it some thought now that I’m correcting the mistakes my past-self made and treating my body with kindness. Regardless that the thought of self care has been barely commandeered by the wellness industry, I do really subscribe to the unique concept. I just find time for myself and really put within the work to fall in love with my body. I take long baths, make myself nice food and have a stunning wank – I really consider that romancing yourself is a big a part of loving your body. 

What do you see if you look within the mirror?
Honey Ross: After I look within the mirror, I see a lady who’s survived a world of trauma and has persevered despite a world of odds being stacked against her. Also a three-course meal.

Your IG bio reads ‘Thicc and uninterested in your shit’ are you able to elaborate on this?
Honey Ross: I get asked this query loads and I find it very amusing – because after I wrote the bio I didn’t really intellectualise it, I just thought it was some funny wordplay. However the more I give it some thought, the more it does reflect how I feel – I’m a fat woman living in a world that wishes to invalidate my existence and I’m so bored with it. And that is coming from a comparatively small fat woman, with proportions which are nearly deemed societally acceptable. So yeah, I’m pretty fucking bored with the way in which the world has nuked thousands and thousands of individuals’s self-esteem to attempt to sell them products that can only proceed to make them more miserable as they strive for an unattainable beauty ideal.

What does body positivity mean to you?
Honey Ross: Body positivity is a radical movement created by fat women and ladies of color to demand respect in a world that has shamed them for hundreds of years. To me, body positivity was a lifeline that allowed me to get up and see that my body is great because it is. I believe concerning the period of time I used to waste serious about my appearance, how I wasn’t worthy of affection and respect – and now how liberated I feel that I can just exist in my body without giving a fuck what people think.

Body positivity has change into a part of the cultural conversation in a way its never before, why do you’re thinking that that is?
Honey Ross: I believe body positivity has change into a part of the cultural conversation for 2 reasons – one, individuals are bored with hating themselves and are in search of an alternate. And two, brands are greedy and are realise that self-loathing doesn’t sell anymore in order that they’re hopping on the zeitgeist to try a commercialise a political movement.

How do you’re feeling concerning the commercialisation of body positivity?
Honey Ross: Brands will all the time attempt to jump on whatever’s selling, but in all honesty, if what’s trendy at once is the representation of variations of skin tones and body types, it’s quite hard to be mad on the exposure. So long as brands are willing to place their money where their mouth is and truly change into more inclusive, i.e. extending their size or shade range – I don’t see an issue with it. 

I do nevertheless take issue with brands that hop on the bandwagon without doing their research or backing it up in the way in which they sell their products.

While social media has actually paved the way in which for greater visibility of ladies of all body types, there seems to still be a discrepancy between what we see online – glamorous pictures of ladies with curves – and the way we feel about our own bodies, what can we do to shut this gap?
Honey Ross: My approach to social media has all the time been to attempt to convey probably the most authentic version of myself that I care to share. I attempt to post as much about my stretch marks and bad mental health days in addition to me looking polished. I sort of think that’s the one treatment – follow accounts which are honest and make you’re feeling good. An enormous step I took for myself was unfollowing all of the accounts that affected my mental health and weren’t good for my body image. I now predominantly follow my friends, plus-sized models, pictures of animals (frogs and kangaroos, in the event you’re interested) and feminist accounts.

What message do you would like your young followers to remove out of your Instagram?
Honey Ross: That you simply really don’t have to punish yourself. Life is difficult enough without all these added pressures. Just be kind to yourself and know that you just’re not alone in whatever struggle you’re going through.

Are you able to tell us a bit about your work with The Pink Protest?
Honey Ross: I went through a severe trauma initially of 2018 and was at an entire loss with what to do with myself. I used to be in very deep depression and Scarlett Curtis truly threw me a rope to drag me out of the filthy cave I used to be dwelling in. 

I got here on board straight after that and all of us began work on our #GirlsWankToo movement. We were hoping to begin a conversation towards ending the stigma around female masturbation since it’s still very taboo in loads ways. We held a extremely beautiful event with a panel of wonderful sex educators, influencers and artist, talking about their experiences of shame and joy surrounding masturbation. And it was such an exquisite intimate space that we were in a position to have a extremely intimate Q and A after, with a great deal of young women sharing things they’d never shared before.

What do you stand for?
Honey Ross: I stand for dismantling the patriarchy, supporting marginalised groups and knowing my place as an ally. 

What are you working on for the time being?
Honey Ross: I’m currently working on a TV project that I’m absolutely terrified about. It’s been a dream since I used to be 17, so I actually hope something comes of it. On the Pink Protest side of things, we’re currently working on rolling out more podcasts/ We’ve just launched Grace Campbell’s Football, Feminism & Everything in Between. Hopefully soon the Body Image podcast I’ve been working on with the incredible Nadia Craddock needs to be out soon. I’m very nervous and excited for people to listen to it.

What are your hopes and dreams for the long run?
Honey Ross: I was once incredibly ambitious, but now truthfully, I believe I’d just quite wish to be blissful, stable and surrounded by Devon Rex cats.