Pakistan shares a very complicated relationship with plus size women. Being happy in your own skin – yeah that’s a pretty foreign concept here. Which is why when someone’s using their platform to empower and uplift others to celebrate the skin they’re in, it’s worth talking about. As I was scrolling through Instagram, I saw an account that did just that.

Meet Arfa Shahid, Pakistan’s first plus size news reporter based in Dubai. 

Although Arfa is a full time journalist, she also models for different brands as a modest and/or plus sized model.

Talking to MangoBaaz, here’s what Arfa shared about what she does: “In my free time, I blog about fashion and beauty with a focus on body positivity, empowerment and self confidence.”

Here’s what Arfa had to say about what she hopes to achieve as a blogger, already breaking stereotypes: 

“I think my top priority as a Pakistani blogger is to create a more positive environment, particularly when it comes to self esteem issues, empowerment and body positivity. These are all interconnected issues. I hope that through my work, people are able to love themselves and society is able to stop creating such restrictive standards for how an individual should be.”

What Arfa hopes for the most is to influence modeling agencies, brands, and designers to be more inclusive in the models they hire and work with.

Arfa also discussed the importance of breaking the norm on Instagram to always have a flawless make-up look.

“Most of us only have a couple of minutes to get ready, so through my makeup videos I wanna show people that it’s perfectly okay to have imperfections, imperfect makeup and showcase a more realistic approach to applying makeup.”

Suffice to say, Arfa is unapologetically herself and that’s exactly what’s so refreshing about her. Right now she is planning on starting her own brand of cosmetics and a size-inclusive fashion brand. Her basic goals are to help Pakistan provide a more comfortable environment for all the women who don’t conform to the norms.

Great going Arfa, and keep up the amazing work! What do you all think about her? Let us know in the comments.

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Cover image via Arfa Shahid