Munroe Bergdorf: Ask Me Anything
Munroe is a model and activist and regularly appears on national and international television news to comment on race, diversity, gender and LGBTQ+ topics.
What does body positivity mean to you?
For me, body positivity is just feeling good within your body, feeling confident, comfortable in whatever shape, size... Whoever you are.
As someone with a large online following, do you feel pressure to present yourself a certain way online?
I used to feel quite a lot of pressure having quite a lot of followers on Instagram and social media, but I think the more that you become comfortable with yourself, get to know yourself, the less pressure you feel to be something else for other people.
Is there a difference between your IRL self and online self?
I definitely think there’s a difference between me in ‘real life’ and social media, because it’s social media. You can only fit a certain amount of yourself on there. I would like to think it’s representational of part of who I am.
Munroe Bergdorf
Name: Munroe Bergdorf
Occupation: Model and activist who regularly appears on national and international television news to comment on race, diversity, gender and LGBTQ+ topics.
What kinds of self-care practices do you implement in your daily life?
On a self care tip, the best things I can think of for myself personally are anything sensual, so taste, touch, breathing even, smelling and anything that makes you feel alive.
Something that’s helped me the most in my self - love journey is stopping comparing myself to other people and seeing other people as inspiration, rather than adversity or competition.Munroe Bergdorf
How can we support kids in becoming body positive in a non body positive world?
Something you can definitely do is is expose the kids to a wide range of role models, people who are doing amazing things in the face of adversity. That’s something that I know that I wish I had had and I didn’t.
What’s your favourite affirmation?
I’m not so much a daily affirmations girl, but I love the quote by Cyndi Lauper, “On the darkest days, I wear my brightest clothes.“
How can you maintain a positive body image when your job is heavily based on your appearance?
I think when you have a job that’s so heavily reliant on the way you look, it’s so important to know who you are on the inside. Just do some work on who you are, rather than the way that you look. I think that that’s so important.
How do you pick yourself up when you’re feeling down?
Something that I do for myself a lot when I’m down is cook. I think that food brings back good memories, and I associate it with good times.
Who has been the most influential to you on your self-acceptance journey so far?
I would say one of the most influential women to me has been Laverne Cox. Just seeing her come out and absolutely kill it, in the early days of my transition, is so important.
What’s helped you the most on your self-love journey?
Something that’s helped me the most in my self-love journey is stopping comparing myself to other people and seeing other people as inspiration, rather than adversity or competition.
