Beauty beats back the bullies

by MIKE CHAIKEN

CONTRIBUTING FASHION EDITOR

Avaryana Rose has proven her worth as a model.

The Florida resident has over 400,000 followers on Instagram and a growing fan base on YouTube. She has walked in New York Fashion Week. She also has her own website.

But all of this burgeoning success would not have happened if the bullies had their way.

To make sure other young women don’t have their dreams squashed by bullies, the model has launched “Babes Against Bullying.”

“I was bullied a lot in middle school,” Avaryana said. “It was hard for me.”

Avaryana’s bullies converged on her ambitions to be a model.

Avaryana said she just started modeling when she was in middle school. The bullies came out of the woodwork to try to discourage her. Avaryana said she was told she wasn’t pretty enough to be a model. She was told her skills weren’t good enough to be a model. They told her she didn’t deserve to be a model.

The incessant criticism made Avaryana question whether she should pursue modeling at all

However, Avaryana said, she decided to keep on pushing toward her dream, turning her back on the bullies.

These days, Avaryana has her eye on competing for a title in the Miss USA system. She decided the time was right to use her social media and titleholder megaphones to fight back against the bullies.

Thus, Babes Against Bullying was born.

Avaryana, who still has to deal with disparaging comments on social media, knew she wasn’t alone in being targeted by bullies. She knew other models also were suffering from the brickbats of naysayers. She thought Babes Against Bullying was a way for all models to fight back against the critics.

Since she launched the project, Avaryana said other models she knows through social media or in person have joined her cause. They have been using their own social media accounts to spread the message of Babes Against Bullying.

“They’ve really helped me reach out to new people,” said Avaryana.

For information about Babes Against Bullying, visit @babes.against.bullying on Instagram or look for #babesagainstbullying. For information about Avaryana Rose, visit @avaryana on Instagram.