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Ashley Graham Reflects On Being Called ‘Cottage Cheese Thighs’ By Middle School Bullies

Ashley Graham may be an accomplished model now, but her looks weren’t always celebrated. In fact, she was downright bullied because of them in middle

In a lengthy essay published by Time on Wednesday, the 36-year-old wrote about the difficulties of growing up with her famously fuller figure — beginning with middle school bullies. “In middle school the kids called me ‘cottage cheese thighs.’ I craved acceptance of others and the empathy of a friend group that might understand what I had to offer beyond my exterior.” Even after returning to school from weekend modeling gigs, she said both students and teachers alike would “tilt their heads and squint at me, looking for whatever the industry saw” because “plus-size wasn’t cool, but the pretty was interesting.”

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