Illustrator Cécile Dormeau on body diversity and defying convention

Date
18 January 2018

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Illustrator Cécile Dormeau has made her name creating diverse, empowered and hilarious female characters that eschew conventional body image tropes. At Nicer Tuesdays, she spoke about why it’s so important to defy cliche and the mixed reaction she receives online and from clients, plus shares her brilliant response to critics.

“We need to show more body diversity everywhere, not only in body positive topics. Today I have clients who let me show more body diversity, which is very encouraging. On the other hand I unfortunately still have clients who tell me, ‘Oh Cécile we love how you draw women how they are, but please can you make her with thinner legs and a rounder butt?’

“The more I looked at body representation, the more I opened my eyes to how all girls in all shapes have a lot of complexes, and we’re losing so much energy complaining about it. Why so much hate for ourselves?” Cécile shared self-portraits from her teenagehood, saying how at the time she saw herself “as a monster”. Now she wants to tell the media-induced feminine ideal where to go. With her work, she wants to tell girls everywhere: “It’s normal to have flaws, we don’t all look the same. Stop comparing yourself to other people. Our personal value is more than just our appearance.”

Get tickets here for Nicer Tuesdays January.

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