14 Women Pose Naked To Redefine 'American Beauty' On Their Own Terms

14 Women Pose Naked To Redefine 'American Beauty' On Their Own Terms

The "American beauty" comes in all shapes, sizes, ages and colors.

That's what photographer Carey Fruth set out to prove with her photo series, "American Beauty," which features 14 diverse women lying naked in a bed of lilacs.

Fruth told The Huffington Post that the series was inspired by the iconic rose petal fantasy scene in the 1999 film "American Beauty" where a middle-aged man has a sexual dream about his teenage daughter's best friend (who is attractive, thin, blonde and white). The scene reflects a quintessential male fantasy where the young woman has no power -- she's merely a sex object.

With these images, Fruth is taking back that power and giving it to women.

Carey Fruth

"Almost every image you see in mainstream media is of one type of woman, thin white women to be specific," Fruth told HuffPost.

"But that is not actually the majority of women in our country look like. America is made up of all types of women. Women who are hungry to see themselves represented in a beautiful way. And why shouldn't they?"

By highlighting women who look different than what's so often represented in pop culture, Fruth hopes to empower women to feel beautiful, confident and sexy just the way they are.

"When women come into my studio, I want to prove to them that they ARE as beautiful as they always feared they weren't, then maybe they can let go of that fear," Fruth said. "By stepping into a fantasy dream girl world and by letting go of that fear, they free themselves up to direct that energy they once wasted on telling themselves that they weren't good enough to elsewhere in their life."

Scroll below to see 14 women proving to themselves -- and everyone else -- that they are absolutely beautiful.

Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth
Carey Fruth

Head over to Fruth's website to see more of her work.

Also on The Huffington Post:

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