A former Miss Universe winner has opened up about being categorised as plus-size by a modelling agency after gaining just two pounds, and what she learned from the experience. In a blog post, Paulina Vega, 26, revealed that after she won the beauty pageant in 2014, she signed with a modelling agency and spent the
A former Miss Universe winner has opened up about being categorised as plus-size by a modelling agency after gaining just two pounds, and what she learned from the experience.
In a blog post, Paulina Vega, 26, revealed that after she won the beauty pageant in 2014, she signed with a modelling agency and spent the next few months travelling and working.
But, according to Vega, three months after signing with the New York branch of the agency, she was told she would no longer be cast for catwalk or editorial work because she had gained “one kilogram”.
“At the meeting they told me that they no longer considered me a model of catwalk and editorial, that I was no longer among the ‘skinny’ and would be classified as a ‘plus-size’ model,” Vega recalled.
Rather than be upset by the categorisation, Vega said she mostly felt confused.
1/12 Ashley Graham
“And cellulite, I have not forgotten about you. I’m going to choose to love you even though you want to take over my whole bottom half. You’re a part of me and I love you.”
2/12 Danielle Brooks
“Sometimes I don’t like what I see, but I have the power to change the way in which I relate to my body both physically and mentally.”
3/12 Iskra Lawrence
“Stop comparing yourself to anybody else. The [pictures of] movie stars, even the Disney characters, that’s not real. That’s not attainable. You can’t be anybody else. You are you. You can’t be them. So you really just have to start embracing yourself and accepting so-called flaws that society has given the name ‘flaws’. It’s just our body, our patchwork quilt.”
4/12 Beyoncé
“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.”
Getty Images
5/12 Kate Winslet
“Nobody is perfect. I just don’t believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, ‘This is who I am and look at me not being perfect.’ I’m proud of that.”
Getty Images
6/12 Rihanna
“You just want something that someone else has, but that doesn’t mean what you have isn’t beautiful, because people always want what you have and you always want what they have – no one is ever 100 per cent like, ‘Yes, I’m the bomb-dot-com – from head-to-toe!”
REUTERS
7/12 Tess Holliday
“Never compare yourself with others and celebrate what makes you, you.”
8/12 Demi Lovato
“Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features… everyone has them.”
9/12 Kim Kardashian-West
“See this little dimple of cellulite here? It was so worth it for that cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream!”
10/12 Jennifer Lawrence
“It should be illegal to call someone fat.”
11/12 Mindy Kaling
“Insults about the way I look can’t be the thing that harms me and my heart the most. It has to harm me the least. If I have a daughter, I’m going to tell her that. Far too many women are much more hurt by being called fat or ugly than they are by being called not smart, or not a leader.”
Rex Features
12/12 Selena Gomez
“I’m learning that you can be comfortable and still look beautiful.”
AFP/Getty Images
1/12 Ashley Graham
“And cellulite, I have not forgotten about you. I’m going to choose to love you even though you want to take over my whole bottom half. You’re a part of me and I love you.”
2/12 Danielle Brooks
“Sometimes I don’t like what I see, but I have the power to change the way in which I relate to my body both physically and mentally.”
3/12 Iskra Lawrence
“Stop comparing yourself to anybody else. The [pictures of] movie stars, even the Disney characters, that’s not real. That’s not attainable. You can’t be anybody else. You are you. You can’t be them. So you really just have to start embracing yourself and accepting so-called flaws that society has given the name ‘flaws’. It’s just our body, our patchwork quilt.”
4/12 Beyoncé
“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence.”
Getty Images
5/12 Kate Winslet
“Nobody is perfect. I just don’t believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, ‘This is who I am and look at me not being perfect.’ I’m proud of that.”
Getty Images
6/12 Rihanna
“You just want something that someone else has, but that doesn’t mean what you have isn’t beautiful, because people always want what you have and you always want what they have – no one is ever 100 per cent like, ‘Yes, I’m the bomb-dot-com – from head-to-toe!”
REUTERS
7/12 Tess Holliday
“Never compare yourself with others and celebrate what makes you, you.”
8/12 Demi Lovato
“Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features… everyone has them.”
9/12 Kim Kardashian-West
“See this little dimple of cellulite here? It was so worth it for that cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream!”
10/12 Jennifer Lawrence
“It should be illegal to call someone fat.”
11/12 Mindy Kaling
“Insults about the way I look can’t be the thing that harms me and my heart the most. It has to harm me the least. If I have a daughter, I’m going to tell her that. Far too many women are much more hurt by being called fat or ugly than they are by being called not smart, or not a leader.”
Rex Features
12/12 Selena Gomez
“I’m learning that you can be comfortable and still look beautiful.”
AFP/Getty Images
“Under what standards can someone be considered plus-size?” she wrote. “And who decides these standards?”
Following the experience, the 26-year-old from Colombia said she thought back to the year-and-a-half she’d spent as Miss Universe, when she’d dedicated her time to activities and responsibilities that went “beyond my image and challenged my mind”.
It was while questioning whether being critiqued on her image was really what she wanted for herself that she realised she wasn’t in the “right place” – and has since focused her modelling career only on brands that “align” with her values and do not require her to “maintain absurd measures”.
According to Vega, she is also slowly seeing a similar change occur within the industry, as brands move from unrealistic body ideals to more authentic ones.
Vega concluded her post expressing all that she learned from the experience – including the importance of being true to yourself.
“I do not define myself by what changes: the shape of my body or my weight,” she wrote. “Today I live according to my standards of beauty and health, and now i feel in the right place.”
On Instagram, where Vega shared a portion of the blog post, she has received more than 247,000 likes.
“You do you and let them do them,” one person wrote.
Another said: “You’re perfect just the way you are, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!”
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