'Educate, don't hate.' That's my motto. The reason why there's so much pushback against diversity and against minority communities is because people are afraid to make mistakes and ask questions. They feel that they'll be chastised if they use the wrong label. It's too scary for them.
Rain Dove
My name is Rain Dove, and my pronouns are just a sound. You can use whatever you want.
A gender capitalist is someone who takes advantage of opportunities given to people based on their perceived sex or gender.
I grew up believing I was just an ugly girl.
I ended up in Colorado working in wilderness fire prevention. My job was to run around with a chainsaw and cut down trees during a blaze. It was really fun. When I first got out there, that's when I realized how passable of a male I could be.
I just see clothing as cloth, and I see it as art, and I see it as a way to express yourself artistically in this world.
Dove is encouraging people to set their own standards worldwide. To be their own unique selves. To not allow others to shame them for accepting their own bodies and styles.
I get a lot from people who are in oppressed situations and say they were gonna give up. A lot of people have reached out and said they were in bad situations and really need me to be successful.
Designers and advertisers like the idea of my breasts, waist line, long legs, and long neck - but have literally made gagging noises at my facial features.
Being an androgynous model is one thing, but a lot of what we're up against is the way we stand for certain values, such as our sexualities, or if people with our look are common enough to be part of the consumer market.
All victims deserve justice.
I have what some people consider to be a 'hippie' mentality.
The first thing you put on in the morning is your lingerie, and you have to look at yourself and tell yourself that you're beautiful, and that's really hard to do when even a simple catalog can't confirm that you're wearing something appropriately or look good enough.
I lost a bet with another model. We were watching a Cleveland Browns game, and she told me I should be a model. I said that models are pretentious people who don't eat. She said, 'If you choose the winning team, I'll do you a favor. If I choose the winning team, you'll go to a casting call.' She won, so I went.
I saw how much money people spent in the fashion industry, and I was like, 'Oh, man, if someone can spend this much on clothes, they certainly can spend five dollars a month on causes.'
There's something so empowering about knowing I can pick up an axe and split a piece of wood.
When a lot of people wake up in the morning and put on their underwear, the first thing they feel that day is terrible about themselves. When you see that your body is not what other people want, it can be really devastating. I have so many friends that I grew up with who have had serious eating disorders.
I always had this attitude of, 'They don't get to tell me how I live my life.'
My sex appeal lies in suits and ties, but my body is femme.
Clothing shouldn't be a societal shackle. It should be art and truth and a way for us to show the world what we want out of it. It's environmental armor.
The VS Angels are beautiful, but so are you.
I am a 100 percent determined to be a Victoria's Secret model.
I have nothing against the Victoria's Secret Angels. They're all beautiful people, and I respect where they are at.
Justice can rarely exist without honesty.
I think it's a different kind of activism. Like, women shouldn't have to step into men's roles to be empowered. They should be able to step into themselves. So that's what I try to bring, that we shouldn't be thinking of it as menswear or womenswear; it should be clothing for people.
I'm a proud woman. I'm a proud man. I'm a proud whatever people think I am.
I never wanted fashion to be a part of my life, but it will always be there.
Not everyone will see your beauty, and not everyone will find you attractive or believe you are worthy of their clothing or publications.
The great thing about fashion is that you can create a very unique version of yourself to display to the world.
When I walk down the street in a dress, people think I'm transgender. The issue isn't that I'm embarrassed to be thought of as transgender: the issue is that people treat transgender individuals so violently, especially if they think it's male to female.
I believe that if you want gender, then you can have it. If you want to label yourself, then sure. If you want to use history to describe who you are, then there is nothing wrong with that. But don't limit me on the way that you limit yourself.
I believe that everyone who is human is androgynous, but I don't think there are a lot of people that are presented as truly androgynous.
The biggest problem with the beauty industry is that it treats its customers as if they have a lot to be corrected rather than things that should be highlighted.
I model as a human being.
It bothered me that women were taught they can't be beautiful just being themselves - it filled me with rage.
I love high fashion. I want to do it, but in order to be able to make a change, you have to be able to talk to the masses, not the 1 percent.
When I'm a gender capitalist in the fashion world, I basically can go to any casting that I want to as long as somebody likes my face.
I went out to California; I was pursuing my degree in genetic engineering and civil law at U.C. Berkeley, and I had to pay my way through school. I eventually got a scholarship, which was great, but in the beginning, it was very hard.
My strength does not come from my clothing.
I model as male, female, and everything in between. I model as all genders.
I had lice in third grade, and my mom shaved all my hair off.
When someone thinks of the term, 'pretty girl,' they don't typically think of someone who looks like me.
Victoria's Secret is entitled to brand themselves the way they want to.
Part of the beauty of Victoria's Secret modeling is that they are called 'Angels' for a reason - because they're aesthetics are supposed to be unobtainable. But so are mine. No one could ever be me. Look exactly as I do. Be exactly as I am.
Some people say there's a reason that Victoria's Secret wouldn't put me or any woman who doesn't fit within a certain spectrum on the runway.
I'm not my body.
The Olympics represent a global standard - for men, for women, for athletics.
I feel more comfortable in men's clothing, and I'm a lot of more convincing as a boy than as a gendered female. But with women's clothing, I feel more empowered.
We the people have the power to decide who we want to see in our advertisements and how we want the world to be portrayed. If we show that being ethical and being diverse is profitable, they're going to market to us.
Confrontation makes me nervous.
