I work in the fashion industry, where people are always like, “Oh, you’re so skinny. It must be so great to have a body like yours.” But it’s not always great. Sometimes clothing doesn’t fit as it should and, as much as I would like to fill out, it’s never been in the cards.
Sometimes I get skinny shamed, and people regularly assume things about me based on my size that aren’t true – that I partake of illegal substances or have some sort of eating disorder. But I absolutely don’t.
I eat McDonald’s almost every day and don’t gain a pound. I just have a hyper-fast metabolism thanks to my genes.
I’m Latino, and there aren’t many models who look like me in magazines or on runways. I’ve always liked to highlight models on my blog who are darker or a bit different from your generic waspy models. There are a lot of great Brazilian models at the moment, and they’re probably the closest thing I can relate to.
There’s a lot of whiteness in the industry, but hopefully as the markets change and North America and Europe become less dominant, we’ll see more ethnic diversity. For example, the Asian market is booming right now, and we’re starting to see more Asian models in big shows and campaigns.
I think it’s important to be able to see people who look like you in fashion campaigns. Whether it’s someone of your cultural background or size and weight, it makes a big difference to be able to imagine yourself in their shoes and relate to them.
