As a college student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Ebbi Nicole saw the need for a movement supporting women as they faced ceaseless societal criticism for simply existing in bodies that aren鈥檛 thin 鈥� and after the idea became a smash hit, the Fluffy GRL movement was born.
Now, 10 years after that first 鈥淔luffy GRL summit,鈥� Nicole鈥檚 group is throwing another bash to celebrate fluffy everywhere.
鈥淲e have so much miseducation about what it looks like to be a woman, or to be feminine, or to be all of these different labels,鈥� Nicole said Monday on St. Louis on the Air. She explained that she arrived at her own label, 鈥渇luffy,鈥� because it resonated in a positive way with how she saw her own body.
But as Nicole explained to St. Louis on the Air guest host Jade Harrell, the purpose of the Fluffy GRL movement isn鈥檛 just to change how people talk about themselves. Since that first summit on her college campus, Nicole said she鈥檚 built the movement to help women break through the stigma and ingrained social messaging around size.
鈥淭elling your stories, sharing your stories, that's something that Fluffy GRL is extremely encouraging and empowering with at each and every one of our events,鈥� Nicole said. 鈥淲e do talk about taking up space unapologetically. It's not just your physical space of your body. Fluffy is not just the way you look, right? It's a mindset.鈥�
It鈥檚 also about overcoming the impact of media messaging that tells women to cover up their bodies or not wear particular fashions because of their size. Nicole organized her group鈥檚 first 鈥淐urves N' Waves Pool Party鈥� in 2018 as a way to overcome that negative messaging 鈥� and the response blew her away. In its second year, more than 100 women attended.
Though delayed last year during the pandemic, the Curves N鈥� Waves pool party returns on Aug. 6 as the culmination of a two-day 鈥淕RL Weekend鈥� in the St. Louis region.
Sponsored in part by Dove, the weekend鈥檚 events start at 6 p.m. Aug. 5 with the Candid Convo Kickoff at the Aloft St. Louis Cortex. Then, at 8 p.m. Aug. 6, the Curves N鈥� Waves Pool Party splashes into the Collinsville Aqua Park.
Nicole promised, 鈥淚t's going to be an amazing, packed event.鈥�
For more information about the
Related Event
What:
When: Aug. 5-6
Where: Aloft St. Louis Cortex (4245 Duncan Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110) and Collinsville Aqua Park (10 Gateway Drive, Collinsville, IL 62234)
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by and produced by , , and . Avery Rogers is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
