50 Best Tyra Banks Quotes About Beauty And Diversity
It's important to learn from our mistakes.
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock Although Tyra Banks' quotes are commonly read by women all over the world as a reminder to love your body, no matter its shape or size, the supermodel and TV personality has come under fire recently for some insensitive comments she made about America’s Next Top Model contestant, Danielle Evans.
Resurfaced footage from season six of the Top Model showed Banks and other judges trying to convince Evans to get dental surgery to fix her gap teeth. When Evans didn’t get the surgery, Banks asked her "Do you really think you can have a CoverGirl contract with a gap in your mouth?"
That question is quite inconsiderate considering Evans has likely been bullied about her teeth all her life. In a profession like modeling, where your looks determine whether or not you get a paycheck, it isn’t surprising that your looks are scrutinized. Less than positive comments are common in the modeling world, where size zero models often think of themselves as fat.
In the fashion and makeup industry, Banks has marketed herself as an advocate of diversity by praising the female body in its various forms. Her show featured models of all races and features. I can recall scenes of Tyra Banks uplifting models in the moments they felt insecure.
Banks made a tweet acknowledging the incident, but it was not truly apologetic. Not once did she say “sorry” or “ I should have been more considerate” to the person she offended most, Evans. Banks also didn’t take ownership for her part, she said “those” instead of her choices.
In Banks’ defense, no matter how body positive we are, most of us have made insensitive comments about someone’s appearance at some point in time. Honestly, all we can do is learn and grow from those experiences, so they don’t happen again.
Regardless of the current comments being brought to light, Tyra Banks was an ideal model to have at a show. She's had to overcome more discrimination and judgment than the typical model — she wasn’t born with blonde hair or blue eyes, she was a black woman. During the 90s she struggled to be accepted because many fashion shows only had room for one black girl to meet the diversity quota.
As she developed curves over the years, she had to leave runway for commercial modeling. Banks needed to change her career path because her body no longer fit the standards of the catwalk. Upon the transition, she became the first black woman to cover Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
After she retired she hosted and produced America’s Next Top Model as a way to allow women who desired to be models to have an opportunity to gain experience — and a CoverGirl contract if they won. The show was meant to allow contestants to get a shot at their dreams, just like American Idol, but for models. After the show, quite a few contestants continued to model and pursue acting careers.
Tyra Banks has a lot to say about diversity, beauty standards and what it takes to love your body the way it is — some of the Tyra Banks quotes below will inspire and encourage you, while others will challenge you.
1. Shine bright.
“Never dull your shine for somebody else.” ― Tyra Banks
2. Accept accountability for your actions.
“Take responsibility for yourself because no one's going to take responsibility for you.” ― Tyra Banks
3. Imperfection makes you human.
“Perfect is boring, human is beautiful” ― Tyra Banks
4. Don’t apologize for your achievements.
“I know I’m an overachiever, and I’m not apologetic about it.”― Tyra Banks
5. Flaws are awesome.
"Flaws are awesome, so 'flawsome!' I love making up a word."― Tyra Banks
6. You don’t have to sacrifice beauty for brains.
“We are often told we can't have brains and beauty, and I really hope that my message is that you can put on that red lip and curl your hair and put on that power dress—you don't have to sacrifice one for the other.”― Tyra Banks
7. Self-love is about self-acceptance.
“Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It’s about accepting all of yourself.”― Tyra Banks
8. You are your only competition.
“I'm competitive with myself. I always try to push past my own borders.” ― Tyra Banks
9. Accept all parts of who you are.
“You’ve got to learn to accept the fool in you, as well as the part that’s got it goin’ on.”― Tyra Banks
10. If you want success, plant the seed.
"Once you plant seeds of success, your tree will bear fierce fruit."― Tyra Banks
11. You don’t have to be vocal about all your goals.
“There's always going to be dreams and goals I have, but I never really tell people what they are.” ― Tyra Banks
12. Celebrate diversity in beauty.
“One of the big, most underlying messages for me is celebrating beauty that is not typical.” ―Tyra Banks
13. Become comfortable with imperfection.
“I'm a perfectionist. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's okay if there are flaws here and there.” ― Tyra Banks
14. Celebrate yourself.
“Stop saying these negative things about yourself. Look in the mirror and find something about yourself that's positive and celebrate that!”― Tyra Banks
15. Keeping it real doesn’t mean being rude.
“A lot of young girls think that the opposite of fake is rudeness. And just as ugly as fake is, so is saying whatever is on your mind because it's the truth.”― Tyra Banks
16. Desire and desperation are not the same.
“There is a difference between desire and desperation.” ― Tyra Banks
17. You must be a strong woman.
“You have what it takes to be a victorious, independent, fearless woman.”― Tyra Banks
18. Don’t feel the need to hide the adjustments you’ve made to your hair or body.
“Years ago, when I first started wearing hair extensions, I would get mail from young girls, or young girls would come up to me and they would say, 'Tyra you have the most beautiful hair as I could never grow hair like that!' And I would say 'Child, this is a weave'! ― Tyra Banks
19. America’s Next Top Model is about diversity.
“'America's Next Top Model' is not a bunch of Barbies - it's a lot of girls that are atypically beautiful.” ― Tyra Banks
20. There’s always one thing that’s beautiful about you.
“It is important for women to feel beautiful when she looks in the mirror, and I tell women, 'If you don't feel beautiful, find one thing that you can look in that mirror and say, 'That is beautiful’.” ― Tyra Banks
21. Everybody time faces their struggles and insecurities.
“I know the pain of somebody who's too thin and the pain of somebody that people say is too big.” ―Tyra Banks
22. You should feel amazing in your own skin.
“I always feel great when I don't have clothes on.” ― Tyra Banks
23. Your age shouldn’t be hidden, it should be embraced.
“I wear my age with pride.” ― Tyra Banks
24. Minority beauty should be more mainstream.
“I think the rise of Asian models is an absolutely beautiful thing.” ― Tyra Banks
25. What matters most about self-esteem is being able to pick yourself up when you fall.
“I don't have the best self-esteem; mine wavers month to month, but I know how to pick myself up.” ― Tyra Banks
26. You don’t have to meet all conventional beauty standards to be beautiful.
“There have been top supermodels in the past that weren't as tall as the industry demands, like fashion icon Kate Moss.” ― Tyra Banks
27. No one is perfect, because we are all human.
“I'm very human.” ― Tyra Banks
28. Unique beauty will be praised one day.
“As I look into the future, I see radical changes in both how people 'attain beauty,' and how the world perceives beauty. In general, I believe traditional beauty will be less valuable - and more uniqueness will be heralded.” ― Tyra Banks
29. Excel beautifully.
“I think we should be unapologetic that we excel - and look beautiful while doing it.” ― Tyra Banks
30. It's OK not to wakeup looking perfect.
"Believe it or not, I don't wake up looking like a supermodel." ― Tyra Banks
31. There shouldn’t be a body image double standard.
“I think people are way less judgmental about chunky guys.” ― Tyra Banks
32. Women should inspire other women.
“The fire to inspire women and help them to blaze new paths fiercely burns inside of me.” ― Tyra Banks
33. Don’t use terms with negative connotations to describe women.
“I don't want to use the term 'plus-size,' because, to me, what the hell is that? It just doesn't have a positive connotation to it. I tend to not use it.” ― Tyra Banks
34. Smile with your eyes.
“On 'America's Top Model,' I've always told my girls to smile with their eyes. We call it 'smizing'.” ― Tyra Banks
35. As conventional beauty standards, diversify so will beauty based prejudices.
“Because beauty will be so readily accessible, and skin color and features will be similar, prejudices based on physical features will be nearly eradicated. Prejudice will be socioeconomically based.” ― Tyra Banks
36. Even supermodels get made fun of.
“I have a big forehead, and I got made fun of all time. When I was a little girl, they used to call me 'five-head’.” ― Tyra Banks
37. Loving makeup does not mean you are not confident.
“Sephora is fantastic. I go in there. I get lost. There are so many great things in there.” ― Tyra Banks
38. You are not the only one facing those struggles.
“Just because you don't know if other people are experiencing the same thing as you are, it doesn't mean that it's not happening. Everybody doesn't necessarily share everything. Just know that what you're going through, other people are going through it, too.” ― Tyra Banks
39. Your size doesn’t matter, your health does.
“A size 16 can be the best shape for you, and you can be healthy.” ― Tyra Banks
40. All women should feel beautiful.
"I'm obsessed with making women look and feel more beautiful than they ever thought possible." ― Tyra Banks
41. Confidence is feeling beautiful with and without makeup.
“Not wearing make-up? I can do it, and don't think twice.” ― Tyra Banks
42. Realize that no one is flawless.
“I get so much mail from young women saying that they are so insecure when they look at me, but they don't realize all of the flaws that I have.” ― Tyra Banks
43. All women are beautiful.
“Girls of all kinds can be beautiful - from the thin, plus-sized, short, very tall, ebony to porcelain-skinned; the quirky, clumsy, shy, outgoing and all in between. It's not easy though because many people still put beauty into a confining, narrow box...Think outside of the box...Pledge that you will look in the mirror and find the unique beauty in you.” ― Tyra Banks
44. Makeup can give you an instant boost of confidence.
“I love the confidence that makeup gives me.” ― Tyra Banks
45. Transform your look as often as you see fit.
“I enjoy doing fashion shows and transforming myself into different looks for photo shoots.” ― Tyra Banks
46. A smile is the biggest asset to any look.
“A smile is the most important thing you wear.” ― Tyra Banks
47. Be you.
“I just want you to be yourself. Be a bigger yourself.” ― Tyra Banks
48. Find ways to work on your insecurities.
“If you like your natural self, don’t worry about it, but if you feel insecure about something ... I have a magic bag of beauty tricks to make you who you want to be.” ― Tyra Banks
49. Always love your body.
“Yeah, my mom always taught me to love my booty, even when it was very difficult to when it was very, very skinny and there was nothing I could do to gain weight—and then also when I got bigger and was having difficulty losing weight. She was always there for me.” ― Tyra Banks
50. Dress in a way that accentuates your best features.
“My body is more like a woman that's not a model than it is like a model. I know how to dress for my body to give off illusions, and I like to teach women about it--it's important for women to have that power and that arsenal ... tricks that make you feel good when you walk outside.” ― Tyra Banks
Tamara Sanon is a writer with a passion for covering topics about health and wellness, lifestyle, astrology, and relationships.