This is Jessica Kane, a plus-size fashion blogger who started her own blog, the Life and Style of Jessica, and founded plus-size blogger network Skorch.
This week, Kane, who says on her site she weighs 310 pounds, posted a bathing suit picture on Facebook that went viral — but not for the reason you might expect.
She told BuzzFeed she was inspired by the "well-meaning and intended compliment, 'Wow, I wish I had your bravery!'"
"THIS WAS NOT BRAVE," Kane wrote on the post, which has been shared almost 50,000 times. "I've been told how brave I am for not having a coverup, but going with out a wrap would only take bravery if I cared what others thought of me."
She added:
Things that DO take bravery? A family battling tragic illness, a mother trying to beat addiction, a person trying to break free of domestic violence, reaching out for help when you have already planned your suicide and feel like you can't breath one more day. THAT is brave. Not wearing a swimsuit at the beach.
On her blog, the 35-year-old mom wrote that she remembers a time when "my size 26/28 self and THIS (me + swimsuit + picture) would have NEVER happened and that is a damn shame because this day was one of the most perfect ever."
She encouraged her readers to stop trying to accommodate other people's ideals of beauty and only worry about what makes them happy.
"What if we let the critics in our head win?? What if you turn down that pool party invite?? Your happiness will suffer in exchange to make someone else more comfortable with THEIR own issues," she wrote.
Many of the comments Kane got on the post were from women (and a handful of men) inspired by her message that it doesn't take an act of bravery to leave your house in a bathing suit.
"I think it resonated because it brings into perspective how much time we waste on caring about things that just honestly, in the end, don't matter," the Satellite Beach, Florida, resident told BuzzFeed. "And to be lauded as brave, while I know it's meant as a compliment, is truly a jab. Because why would I have to be brave to just be me?"
"Eff the critics babygirl," Kane wrote, "and eff anyone else's version of beauty if it forces you to deny embracing moments like these..live your life NOW."
