Big noses are beautiful!
That’s what Radhika Sanghani wants everyone to know. The London-based writer, 27, recently launched a Twitter campaign urging women to embrace their nose shape.
She posted a side profile of herself and urged other people to do the same.
“Breaking the big nose taboo,” she tweeted. “Let’s stop hating our noses for not being tiny, little snubs and learn to love them by sharing a #sideprofileselfie.”
The response was very positive, with hundreds of women and men sharing their own side profile selfies.
Many people wrote about their lifelong struggle to embrace their nose shape and size.
Today, women are embracing everything that makes them uniquely beautiful, from cellulite to freckles to gray hairs, but nose shape is not often mentioned in the body positive movement, Sanghani says.
“We've seen the unfiltered spotty skin, the stretch marks, the cellulite and the body hair all being reclaimed as our own and beautiful online,” she wrote in an essay for Grazia magazine about her #SideProfileSelfie project. “But noses are still hidden in subtle head tilts and awkward poses. We need change.”
Sanghani has always been self conscious about her strong profile, and she admitted it was “terrifying” to kick off the campaign with her own selfie.
“Even though I’ve grown to love my nose in recent months it still felt really scary to post a photo of it, in all its big crooked glory, on social media,” she told TODAY Style in an email. “I had no idea if people would relate and join in, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I was worried what boys I’ve dated would think.”
In the end, however, Sanghani decided to post her own photo to help others feel more confident.
“People with strong profiles end up feeling unattractive, and even ashamed of their big noses,” she told TODAY Style. “I’ve definitely felt this in the past which is why I really wanted to help other people, especially larger-nosed ladies, embrace their noses.”
In addition to all the public responses to her tweet, Sanghani has received several private notes from people thanking her for her body positive project.
“I’ve been in tears at some of the messages, from people in their 50s who’ve hated their noses their entire lives until now, and young girls who have changed their minds about getting nose jobs,” she told TODAY.
Sanghani said she has been “beyond overwhelmed” by the positive response to her campaign, and she is thrilled that the “big nose taboo” is finally breaking down.
“For the first time big-nosed people are owning their noses," she said, "and inspiring others to do the same!”