Orange Is the New Black's Danielle Brooks Embraces Her Body
Actress Danielle Brooks shows off her cute workout gear at the gym. Photo: @daniebb33/Instagram
Danielle Brooks, who plays Taystee on Orange Is the New Black, is all about body confidence — and wants everyone to know it.
On Wednesday, the actress posted a classic gym selfie: she was looking in the gym mirror—looking like a badass—showing off her cute workout gear. Like a lot of gym selfies, Brooks wasn’t wearing a shirt over her sports bra. Unlike a lot of them, however, she wasn’t showing off a six pack.
“I’ve always wanted to do this but have felt shameful and have told myself ‘until my body is perfect I’m forbidden.’ Today my inner being told me to turn up the notch on my self-love. I should not be ashamed of my body. I’m not a walking imperfection! I’m a Goddess,” she wrote in the caption. “Secondly, I’m a confident woman! That doesn’t stop once I take off my spanx.”
While Brooks admits that it’s a struggle sometimes—who loves what they see in the mirror 100% of the time?—she concedes that she has the power to change the way in which she views her body both physically and mentally. “Today I woke up feeling beautiful and motivated to love myself and take care of the ONE body that I’ve been given. I’m not saying, ‘World take your shirt off, twist it round your head, spin it like a helicopter,’ (lol) I’m saying everyone live in your confidence. One Life. One Body. Take Care of It.” She added the hashtags #voiceofthecurves#yesmythighstouch #lovethyself#beautyinandout #goddess#imabadshutyomouth#ivebeeneatingmygreens#thickathanasnika. The post has nearly 70,000 likes.
“You already know what I’m reppin: Team Love ThySelf.” Photo: @daniebb3/Instagram
And this isn’t the first — and certainly not the last — message of body positivity Brooks has sent to her followers. Just a few weeks ago, she shared a photo of herself in a Monif C. Plus Sizes black and pink bikini. An obvious fan of hashtags, she included #somebodysfuturewife, #noshame, and more. Part of People Style Watch’s #LoveYourShape campaign, she encouraged users of all sizes to share similar images.
Brooks also opened up to Glamour in a personal essay about finding self-acceptance. She revealed that based on the standard definition of beauty, she had three strikes against her being “too dark, too curly, and too fat.” These contributed to her being insecure, unhappy, and she even had suicidal thoughts. While success has helped, it’s also played a part in shifting her thinking. “Being in the public eye magnifies my “imperfection” to an insane degree. Attending the Golden Globes for the first time, I was aware that the majority of the other actresses in the audience didn’t look like me,” she wrote. “But you see, the average woman is a size 12 to 14. Those actresses don’t look like most women. I’m not saying those actresses should gain 30 pounds, but I am posing the question, that if art is supposed to reflect life then why don’t the red carpets and magazines reflect reality?”
Brooks hopes to play a part in shifting ideals. “Embracing who I am by refusing to hide my legs or or cover my arms because they make someone else feel uncomfortable,” she’s said. “By realizing that every stretch mark on my body is kissed by the sun, and no longer wishing them away. By no longer operating out of a place of fear. So if you see me on a carpet with my arms and legs out glistening, or my midriff exposed, it’s a reminder to myself and the world that I know I’m beautiful.”
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