Love knows no size. While we never get to see plus-size women in the center of an epic love story on television or in the movies, they're all around us. But when every love story you see or read features a thin romantic lead, it's easy to feel unlovable and to feel that those grandiose stories are reserved for thin people. At Ori we believe that you can be what you can see, and if you can see fat women in love, you too can lead in your own epic love story.
While the stories of fat girls falling in love aren't being told in traditional media, we're ready to change the narrative by spotlighting plus-size women from our own community who have fallen in love and shared their stories with us. Together, let's change digital landscape because love doesn't come in just one size.
Read on to hear the love stories of our community members, and if you have a story of your own, submit it here so we can share on our blog and on social media.
Sean of @heyseantaylor
"I met my now boyfriend, Eric, at a crazy themed costume party. I immediately walked up and flirted with him but then I lost sight of him during the party. By the time he found me another guy had asked to walk me home. 🙈Listen— I was newly single. It ended up being a complete flop and I thought about Eric for months, thinking I would never find him and completely blew it.
But the universe had a plan, because I had some exploring to do, and when the timing was right we ended up matching on tinder! One of the first times we hung out, I had one of those movie moments where everything went quiet and I just knew I could never stay mad at this guy.
For my senior year of college, I wrote a big one woman show about my experiences with body shaming and I got completely nude on stage. It was a big risk inviting him. We had dated for months but weren’t officially boyfriend/girlfriend yet. But it ended up being the best thing for our relationship because it put talking about our bodies in a healthy way on the table. We don’t remember when we made things official, so we decided to choose a date for our anniversary and Eric said we should choose the day he saw my show, because that’s when he knew he loved me. 😭"
Alicia of @curvy_chronicles
"At 32 years old I had never been on even one date, never had one kiss or even held hands with a guy. I was insecure about my size and feared being rejected because I was fat. It was easier to not try than to try and be shot down.
Brandon, on the other hand, had been in a number of relationships but allowed himself to be treated poorly, convinced he didn’t deserve anything better because of his size.
When we first met, he told me I would never see him with his shirt off and I told him there were parts of my body (my big thighs and drooping stomach) I was scared for him to see.
If you had asked me six years ago if anyone would ever love my jiggly legs, my squishy stomach or large dimpled butt, you would have been met with a resounding, "NO!" But Brandon does. He doesn’t just ‘put up with them’ because he loves me, he actually loves each and every part of my body, even the parts I don’t love myself. And I, in turn, love every part of his.
We have both grown more self-confident over the past five years and I know I could never have learned to love and accept my body the way it is now, if it weren’t for Brandon showing me I am worthy, lovable and beautiful at any size."
Celeste of @fatgirlforthefitsoul
"Don and I met in 2016. We went on a typical afternoon date, you know, drinks and a nice meal. We had a great time. Looking back on our first date, it's clear to how confident I felt. I was 100% myself and didn’t feel like I needed to change anything to impress him.
We started talking and going out more often and eventually we became best friends. We didn’t rush anything, we took our time getting to know one another. After the first year of dating, we talked and agreed that we would take things slow and build our friendship first before moving on to anything more serious.
Normally I like to rush things when I’m in a relationship, but I decided I would do things differently this time.
Don and I have a lot in common, we both love traveling, hiking, going to the movies, and sometimes just staying at home and doing nothing. While my love story isn't perfect, it's perfect for me because we trust and respect each other.
In 2019 he proposed and I said yes to my best friend. 💍"
Victoria of @victoriadonelda
"You know that Riri bop where she’s like, “We found love in a hopeless place?” Well literally, we did. We found love in the most hopeless of places: the internet! As summer was dying and turning to fall and all of my hope for ever finding love was rapidly evaporating, it felt like running in to a brick wall when I finally met Evan. I knew better than to trust it at first. Living in this strange age where you cannot trust anyone for real but at the same time share your whole life online for strangers has made my experience dating on and offline weird. But after talking to him, picking his brain, laughing at his memes, and telling him about my flaws and neuroses and goals, it was finally time to go on a date.
I had never been the type to be nervous for dates because I’ve had so many good and bad ones that it takes a lot to phase me. I was, however, excited. I was out of town the weekend before our date and told everyone (in both sober and not-so-sober times) that I was going on a date and I hoped I would be this guy’s girlfriend someday. My friends were shook, this is not a Victoria thing to do. I told my best friend that if my gut feeling was wrong, I would just quietly give up, finish nursing school, and move on with my life, deciding that love just wouldn’t happen for me. Not dramatic at all, right? But in all seriousness, that’s how I felt. I was tired of being the girl that guys adored or lusted after but never loved. I was tired of the games and the pressure to laugh at unfunny jokes. I wanted to like and value someone as much as I did myself. Dating is difficult, let alone dating after getting hurt and let down.
It’s so different with Evan. We have both found something we didn’t know was a possibility for us. We found each other when we were both so close to giving up and giving up on love. I hate this saying, but it actually happened for me so I feel like it’s important to reference: when you stop looking or worrying about love, it will knock on your door and bite you in the ass. I think that’s how it goes, anyway, IT’S TRUE. Don’t give up on your hopes or yourself. Your time in the sun will come, and you’ll feel it just like how pre-first-date-tequila-drunk-Victoria knew it. Gut feeling are guardian angels and everyone gets a shot of happiness and love."
Bailey of @thebaileyp asked her husband, Sam, to write their story.
I met my husband Will when I was 31 on a free online dating site called OkCupid. I had done online dating on and off for about 5 years prior but just never met anyone that clicked. After our first date, I knew he was something special. We just had this ease when we were together that I had never felt with anyone before. I knew he was the one pretty early on and we got engaged after only 11 months of dating. We got married 5 years ago this May, and have two handsome boys.
I feel so thankful to have found someone who is not only my best friend but adores my body; lumps, bumps, curves and all. Even after having two kids, he tells me every day that he loves me no matter what."
