'My body is just as good as any Victoria's Secret girl but they'll never use me because I have a masculine face': Androgynous model challenges beauty standards

An androgynous model is challenging the narrow beauty standards promoted by Victoria's Secret by staging her own lingerie shoot wearing the brand’s designs - before superimposing the real Angels' faces onto her own.

Rain Dove, 26, certainly has the figure of a Victoria's Secret model. The former firefighter and paramedic is 6'2" and has a slim 26" waist and 32DD breasts. But because her facial features are considered more 'masculine', the Brooklyn resident knows she'd never be invited to walk with the likes of Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima.

'You don't see Victoria's Secret women running around with even short hair. That's too crazy for them,' she told Daily Mail Online. 'I want to tell people that there are more ways to be beautiful, there are more ways to be handsome.'

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Making a statement: Rain Dove, 26, wants Victoria's Secret to broaden its beauty standards - so the androgynous model posed like the Angels in this year's Christmas catalogue

Watch this: She then superimposed the faces of Victoria's Secret models, like Candice Swanepoel, on her hers

Showtime: Candice will appear in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which airs tonight at 10pm on CBS

Since breaking into the modeling business over a year ago, Rain has appeared in W, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Marie Claire - but the star-studded Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is still beyond her grasp.

Rain says that's because she wears her hair short, is a bit more muscular, and has features that many would consider masculine.

But not looking traditionally feminine makes her no less of a woman - even though she is often mistaken for being male or transgender. Rather, it just shows that 'beauty' comes in many shapes and sizes. 

Standing out: Rain said despite her 32DD breasts, long legs, and slim waist, she'd never make it on the Victoria's Secret runway because of her 'masculine' features

Indeed, Rain has been able to make some headway in the high fashion world, most recently scoring a campaign for menswear brand Ace Rivington.

But now she wants Victoria's Secret to expand their beauty standards too, showing that just because a woman doesn't fit the feminine archetype with a slim waist, curves, long hair, and small, delicate facial features doesn't mean she's not sexy.

To do that, she's staged her own sexy lingerie shoot, wearing Victoria's Secret's bras and underwear and posing similarly to the models featured in this year's Christmas catalogue. 

A girl through and through: The New Yorker said she often gets mistake for being a man or transgender, but she is and was born female

Different: Designers have told her that they like her breasts, waist, and legs, but they 'have literally made gagging noises at my facial features'

Feeling sexy: She wants people - including the lingerie brand's casting team - to know there are more ways to be beautiful than looking like Sara Sampaio (pictured)

Newbie: Sara was introduced as one of the brand's ten new Angels earlier this year

In one shot, she wears a lacy pink one-piece and stands seductively with her arms behind her head; in another, she lounges on a red velvet couch in a lace-trimmed white teddy, one armed draped across her stomach and the other holding up her head as she gazes into the camera.

Then the twist comes in: After the shoot, Rain and her team superimposed the faces of other models like Candice Swanepoel over her own. The altered images serve to show that, while she has what many would consider the body of a Victoria's Secret model, the industry's ideas about her face limit her.

'Every year I see VS promote their show as featuring the "most beautiful women in the world". During my career path I've experienced first hand what people deem as beautiful. It's not me. It's not most people. It's limited and small. It needs to change,' she said. 

Making waves: Rain, a former firefighter, has been modeling for over a year and a half and has appeared in E, Elle, and Cosmopolitan, much like Angel Elsa Hosk (right)

Runway look: Rain charges that women like Elsa (picture) conform to a narrow standard of beauty

'I've been told I’d make a great parts model. 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.' 

Rain hopes that her campaign reminds others that beauty is subjective, and what one person finds attractive might not be what turns another person on. She also believes in the power to change society's ideas about beauty, which is why she's putting herself forward.

'The face of beauty literally needs to change,' she added. 'Which means the way we think of beauty needs to as well. That starts with us. Individually. Not hiding ourselves and standing up to say "I exist. That alone is beautiful."'