WHEN she first started creating social media content, Karly Polkosnik didn’t plan on becoming a body positivity influencer.
Now, aged 26, Karly flaunts her curves in sexy lingerie and encourages other women to do the same.
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Chatting to Daily Star, Karly, from Canada, said she’d been an influencer for close to a decade, having started out as a traditional blogger back in high school.
At the time, she was was a professional cheerleader and used the platform to blog about her experiences during her gap year.
Then came TikTok, the biggest social media app, and her life changed.
After uploading a satirical video about her intended immigration to the US, the young woman suddenly became an internet sensation, gaining a whopping 50,000 followers overnight.
At the time, she said, she was posting dance content, lip syncing content, various story times, and there was not much about body positivity.
Then one day, she uploaded a clip of herself rocking a crop top and sweatpants, and there were heaps of comments pouring in about how others had never seen their body type represented on TikTok.
For her, it was kind of a ”happy accident” because although she did realise she existed in a ”bigger body”, it was never her goal when first starting social media.
That one video, she now said, made her realise just how desperate people were for that kind of content.
”On top of that, one of the largest reasons I think it’s important to produce body positive content is the impact on youth,” she added, explaining that comparing themselves to the unrealistic images online often leads to eating disorders.
“Having access to content of people existing healthily in larger bodies without trying to kill themselves to be ‘socially acceptable’ is helping dismantle traditional beauty standards, and curb harmful eating disorders one block by one.
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For adults, Karly creates the content to help them unlearn the harmful ideals they were taught before the rise of social media.
“At the end of the day, this type of content helps people to love themselves, which in turn helps them to live a fulfilled and happy life.
Now Karly works to show off the perfect curves she’s proud off by rocking sexy lingerie sets and cute outfits that make her feel her best.
And the message seems to have spread, as the 26-year-old receives hundreds of DMs [Direct Messages] of people thanking her.
For the first time in years, they’ve finally felt empowered to wear tiny shorts, crop tops and dresses; something they once avoided.
Another thing about Karly is posting thirst traps – after all, if you got it, flaunt it.
She insisted: “I don’t post lingerie or crop top photos for other people in the sense of validation or attention, and especially not for men as I recently came out as a lesbian and am very happy with my girlfriend.
“I post them because I know I have great boobs, and I wanted to give the world a lil sneak peek of them on a Tuesday afternoon,” the woman chuckled.
To Karly, beauty means all kinds of things, but what matters most is what’s inside.
You could have the most symmetrical face, one that matches all the beauty standards, but if the ”personality sucks” then the heart is ”ugly”.