Dove, which is a pioneer when it comes to women embracing body positivity and challenging beauty norms, just released one of their most powerful campaigns yet, #MyBeautyMySay. Dove brought together six women, who got real on how they each love and define their unique and individual beauty. See the video and take a look at 11 Latina celebs who love their curvas.
Read more ¿Qué más?: 5 Reasons every Latina should LOVE her curves
The six women featured in the video ad include, Heather Hardy, a boxing champion told she was "too pretty to fight," Rain Dove, a genderqueer model deemed as "too masculine," among a few others. But the story that really spoke to a lot of our hearts was, fashion blogger, __Jessica's Torre__s's struggle with fashion industry challenges.
"They said only skinny girls can dress well," she says in the video. "I just remember the sales associate saying, 'We'll cover her up better. We'll hide the stomach better, we'll hide her arms better. They told me that I had to hide. They told me that I wasn't pretty enough. They told me that I wasn't thin enough. I just wasn't enough."
As women, we've all experienced being judged based on our appearance. And as Latinas, we know all too well how it feels to be judged specifically when it comes to weight. There's this pressure to maintain a perfect hourglass figure (think Sofia Vergara), that's not easily attainable or even realistic for a lot of us. Fortunately, we're seeing more and more plus-size models, bloggers, actresses, and even social media stars that are changing what the world perceives as beautiful. They are proving that there really isn't one way to be beautiful, because beauty comes in different shapes, sizes and colors.
"The advice I have for other Latinas would be to live your life unapologetically," Torres told us exclusively. "You don't owe it to anyone but yourself. The process of self love is long and tough, but completely worth it. Si yo puedo, tú también!"
Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqToVzu0iTc
Click to see 11 other Latinas that are teaching us how to love our curves.
Images via Demi Lovato/Instagram, Denise Bidot, Instagram and Dascha Polanco/Instagram
Denise Bidot
Known as one of the most recognizable names in plus-size modeling, Denise Bidot has broken barriers in the fashion world. She made history when she became one of the first plus-size Latina models to ever walk the runways at New York Fashion week in a “straight-size” show. Her mom’s personal body image struggles, helped her to love her own curves. “I probably wouldn’t be who I am without that struggle,” she told the Huffington Post. “I watched her first hand not know how beautiful she was, not accept her body and her curves the way she should have.”
Dascha Polanco
In a cover story interview with Latina magazine, Orange Is The New Black actress opened up about finally embracing her curves. “I’m still very insecure bodywise and I’m working on it, but I’m also confident, because I feel like I’m not going to let anybody knock me down,” she told the magazine. “Why should I now not be able to carry myself, love myself? Okay, everybody has an opinion about everything – but my body has been a negative factor in my life all the time. But now I embrace its uniqueness.”
Demi Lovato
Singer Demi Lovato has admitted that she was able to find body confidence thanks to the Kardashians. “When the Kardashians came on the scene, that was the first time that I really associated curves with beauty, and it was just so new to me,” she said on an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres show. “I remember thinking, wow that’s so cool. “And even at a time when I was still struggling with food, I was able to look at Kim’s curves and be like, I should really be proud of my curves.”
Chiquis Rivera
Chiquis Rivera loves to embrace her curves. She’s constantly posting photos of herself on Instagram using the hashtag “thick and proud” and earlier this year gave a shout out to plus-size model, Ashley Graham.
Jennifer Lopez
Lopez might be known for her hot body now, but she literally had to fight to keep her curves. At a Shades of Blue event earlier this month, J.Lo shared with E some of the pressures she faced earlier in career regarding her weight. “They kept telling me to lose weight, and I was a dancer and I was athletic and even my manager at the time who I no longer work with um was telling , ‘You need to lose weight. You need to be thinner,’” she said. “I was like, ‘No I don’t. If I lose any more weight it won’t be me. You know what I mean?”
Salma Hayek
It took years before Mexican actress, Salma Hayek started embracing her curves. But she now believes she looks better at 48 than she ever did. “I never exercised my whole life, but now I do yoga,” Hayek told Net-a-Porter’s The Edit. “I was always borderline chubby, because I like my food and, frankly, I like my wine … I’m in good shape right now.”
Christina Aguilera
Over the past few years, Aguilera has received a lot of criticism regarding her weight. But she has still chosen to embrace her curves regardless. “Actually, the challenge I’ve always had is being too thin, so I love that now I have a booty, and obviously I love showing my cleavage,” she said in an interview with Lucky magazine. “Hey, if you can work it and you can own it, that confidence is going to shine through.”
Eva Mendes
Despite Hollywood’s obsession with thinness, Eva Mendes revealed in an exclusive interview with Marie Claire, how she feels about her body. “I love my curves and I embrace them,” she said.
Sofia Vergara
One of the things we love about Sofia Vergara, is how unapologetic she is about loving and embracing her voluptuous figure. “In Colombia everybody’s very voluptuous and you’re supposed to be,” she told Esquire magazine. “You don’t want to be skinny when all of your cousins are mermaids. You grow up thinking that’s how beauty is.”
Sara Ramirez
In a March 2011 interview with Latina magazine, actress Sara Ramirez opened up about being a curvy in Hollywood. “There’s a whole list of things you could worry about,” she said. “I’ve never been very cookie cutter. If I choose something different from my status quo, it’s my responsibility and my choice to live my life that way.”
America Ferrera
In an interview with Glamour, The Real Women Have Curves star spoke about her struggles with body confidence and owning her curves. “I’m a regular-size person. I’m a size 6 or 8, which is totally normal. Sometimes I worry more about losing weight than gaining weight, because this is how people know and accept me. I do feel like if I wanted to get in better shape, there might be a backlash of, ‘Why isn’t she comfortable with herself anymore?’”
