Ashley Graham Defends Her March Vogue Cover on Instagram

Plus-size model Ashley Graham is defending her first U.S. Vogue cover shoot. Despite the magazine’s intention to celebrate diversity, the March issue was met with some backlash on social media from critics who believe the magazine could have cast models of more varied skin tones. And aside from Graham, the rest of the models — Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Vittoria Ceretti, Imaan Hammam, Adwoa Aboah and Liu Wen — are thin. All of the cover stars are similar heights, too, some critics pointed out.

People also noted that Graham is the only model with her hand on her thigh, and point out that Gigi Hadid’s hand is covering Graham’s torso.

Graham was quick to defend the cover on Instagram, saying the magazine had nothing to do with how she was posing.

“I chose to pose like that,” she wrote in the comments section. “No one told me to do anything.”

“Sixty-seven percent of the women in America wear a size 14 or larger,” Graham tells Vogue. “Sixty-seven percent. Maybe you could ignore those consumers before, but now, thanks to social media, they’re making their voices heard. Women are demanding that brands give them what they want. And what they want is to be visible.”

[H/T Us Weekly]