My favorite Filipinas that constantly advocate for body positivity
Generally, body positivity revolves around loving one’s self and encouraging others to do the same thing. It is a movement that empowers individuals to feel pleased and proud of their bodies, regardless of shape and/or size. Undeniably, however, social media have raised erroneous standards of what society considers attractive.
Social media influences society to establish a beauty standard for women that frequently modifies what it meant to be attractive. These standards shape society’s perception of what makes a woman appealing, attractive, and basically perfect. Of course, this reinforces unhealthy and unrealistic beauty norms.
This also harms women’s self-image and body image because society has particularly linked beauty with self-worth. Fortunately, we are in an era of unlearning such standards. And, there are tons of Filipinas who constantly remind and advocate to inspire us to accept and love ourselves more.
My favorite Filipinas that constantly advocate for body positivity
AYN BERNOS
Ayn Bernos became one of the most prominent Filipinas who constantly advocate for self-love and body positivity. She empowers women through her clothing line Morena the Label, celebrating sun-kissed skin, body positivity, and everything in between.
A day before the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 coronation night where Ayn represented San Juan City, she posted images of herself on Twitter wearing a shirt. The piece of clothing had graphics on the front that said, embrace your flaws on one side and what flaws? on the other.
The back of the shirt, on the other hand, had a clap back statement that said, That’s really cute of you to shame me for something I’m not ashamed of. Of course, she explained in her caption and pointed out that your features aren’t flaws.
We really need to stop calling our features ‘flaws’.
When I embrace my thick thighs, my round face, my arms; my skin color, I am not embracing ‘flaws.’ am embracing things that are natural to me. They are not wrong at all. They’re not problems.
We really need to stop calling our features “flaws.”
— Ayn Bernos (@aynbernos) September 29, 2021
When I embrace my thick thighs, my round face, my arms; my skin color, I am not embracing “flaws.” I am embracing things that are natural to me. They’re not wrong at all. They’re not problems. pic.twitter.com/rXWTYrZ1tb
NINA ELLAINE
Nina Ellaine is both a businesswoman and a content creator. She is the owner of the cosmetics firm Colourette and a local clothing brand called Every Body. This brand, on the other hand, highlights inclusive, plus-size clothing for all. She remains a passionate supporter of the body positivity movement and women’s empowerment.
Both brands encourage diversity and inclusiveness for all Filipinas. She lets her products encourage Filipinas to love and boldly express themselves in a way they want to. In an Instagram post last March 7, she posted a photo of herself with a caption regarding herself accepting her features, her face, and her body.
The more I accept the features of my face and body, the more beautiful I feel. What others say about you doesn’t and shouldn’t really matter. What matters is what YOU say about YOU. How you look at yourself and what you feel about your body. Self-love isn’t an overnight journey but it sure is an adventure that’s worth pursuing.
INKA MAGNAYE
Inka Magnaye is a prominent voice actress, TikTok influencer, and content creator who creates short, lip-smacking videos. She has a large following on Instagram and other social media networks. Whereas, she uses her platforms to promote self-love and body positivity.
On January 9, 2023, she posted her unfiltered mirror selfies to Instagram with an inspirational caption that addresses insecurities. The said post contains her conversation with an unnamed girl who worries about stretch marks. Furthermore, she ended the post with advice to her readers to be confident in their skin and to stop fretting too much about what other people think.
Dark knees and elbows, dry skin, lines on my underarms, patchy pigmentation, stretch marks, and all these things that prevent us from doing things we want to do. Someone left a comment on one of my videos saying she wished she could wear skirts but couldn’t because of her dark knees.
If you’ve seen me in shorts out in public, I promise you I have them [stretch marks] all. You just don’t notice because we’re usually too preoccupied with our own “flaws” to notice them in others.
To all people out there who are doubting their own beauty, you are beautiful! May these three Filipina influencers remind us that we are loved and truly amazing in our own beautiful way! Keep slaying!
