Despite the rise of the body positivity movement in recent years, women of all shapes and sizes have experienced bullying while growing up as the pressure to conform to the 'ideal' body type permeates society.
Clara Dao has opened up about her experience of being harassed by trolls who dubbed her "anorexic", calling for her to "put some meat on your bones" and even asking whether she is "a dude" - all because she has a small chest and is naturally slim.
Now a strong advocate for body positivity, Clara has been able to use these hateful comments as a force for change, as she shares her story online to millions of followers and is determined to show off her figure in bikini snaps and crop tops to defy nasty bullies.
The 24-year-old has come a long way with her own body positivity, as the hurtful jibes caused her to consider a boob job when she was younger. The influencer even bought weight-gain supplements in a bid to try and change her body, but now she realises that the path she was going down was a troubling one, and has learned to love her body and proudly showcases it online to help others.
Clara has experienced a slew of vile trolling throughout her life, with one person even saying: "No offence, but how would you breast-feed a baby in future?"
Another cruel person jibed: "Flat everywhere, nothing to touch or feel".
Clara, who lives in Toronto, Canada, now looks back on how insecure she was as a teen and wishes her younger-self could see how far she's come.
Writing on Instagram, Clara said: "All the content I've created is what I wish my past self could see. The 16-year-old me who cried herself to bed every day, having to hear people constantly pointing out what was wrong with her, wishing she could look like someone else, always hoping for a miracle to happen so that she could wake up with the 'perfect' body.
"The thing is, she did not realize [sic] that she already had the perfect body, and that perfect body was the one she was born with."
With a huge following of 2 million on TikTok and 1 million on YouTube, as well as 156,000 people on Instagram, Clara now uses her platforms to educate others on the realities of 'skinny shaming' and urges people to love themselves regardless of their size.
Clara says: "I finally love myself and I’m so happy to help other men and women overcome their body confidence issues".
"I never touch a bra anymore and I love showing off my body in bodycon dresses".
The influencer says her relatives unknowingly made her feel insecure about her looks when she was younger, calling her 'skinny' or a 'twig'.
Opening up about her appearance, she added: "I kept waiting for my breasts to come, but they never came.
"I was so different for a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me.
"All the boys knew me as the flat-chested girl and I couldn’t win - they would tease me for wearing padded push-up bras but if I didn’t wear a bra, they would tease me for being flat.
"I felt like I was ugly and I was lacking something."
As a teen, Clara would wear baggy clothes to hide her figure and would never wear a bikini - instead, she would hide under a towel at the beach.
The influencer admits to having a toxic relationship with social media when she was younger, as she would obsess over the 'perfect' body she wanted to achieve.
"I was going through a very dark time, I was heavily into social media and I was obsessed with having a curvy figure with a tiny waist."
By the time she turned 18, Clara decided she wanted breast augmentation surgery as her best friend at the time had had a boob job - going from an A-cup to a D-cup.
She spent months researching the procedure, trawling through countless videos on YouTube, but eventually decided against it as from her perspective, the risks outweighed the benefits.
This was a real turning point for the teen as she knew that she would have to learn to accept her body if she wasn't going for surgery.
In February 2019, she started uploading videos onto her YouTube channel to map her journey to self-acceptance. Now, she's happier than ever with her body.
"I started accepting myself and now I feel amazing about how I look, I'm at a point I not only accept how I look but I love how I look," Clara said.
"I practice what I preach and as soon as I started producing body positivity content, I could feel my confidence grow.
"I look at myself with love and gratitude instead of criticism, hate and disgust."
Do you have a story to share? Email us at ellie.fry@reachplc.com
