I am not saying anything new here, but with Social Media growing, the population with lower self-esteem, poor body image is higher. That is even more common in women and teenage girls, who compare themselves to that perfect, photoshopped Instagram models and questioning themselves: Why Do I not look like that? The fact is that people tend to share happy moments on their social media. Everyone wants to appear in their bests. But the truth is, that they have bad skin or hair day too. They can wake up moody, or get told off by their boss. Not everything works out the way we want it all the time, and that’s no exception for them either. Therefore, we must learn to separate social media from reality!
I want to welcome Jeah to my blog, the Queen of Puerto Princesa – Philippines as a plus-size woman. I met her while I was traveling back in 2019! She has a bubbly personality, positive energy, and I wanted you to share that with you too!
Her smile is contagious 😛
My name is Jeah Mae Castro Cosilit. I am the Puerto Princesa City’s Binibining Sexsi 2021.
I always see myself as a bubbly, calm, organized, amiable, positive thinker, animal lover, and an ambivert kind of a person. I love the ocean, I am a mermaid at heart! And the sight of the sea is enough to remind me how thankful I am to have an eyesight for me to see such a marvelous view! I’m the kind of person that loves to learn new things. I am inquisitive, so I often find myself doing things, that I thought I could never do. I would say that I’m proud of loads of things that I’ve done in my life. I have been working since I graduated from High School. I left our home at the age of 16 and flew to Manila to work as a nanny/housemaid, and I have been working since then. I have done different types of jobs, like housekeeping in a local bed and breakfast here in Puerto Princesa. Then, later on, I became its Front Desk Receptionist at the age of 18. I believe that’s where I learned how to communicate well in another language aside from Tagalog. It is really exciting like I’m traveling each time a guest shares their culture and beliefs with me. Then at the age of 22, I decided to go outside of our country, which definitely took me out of my comfort zone, and made me become the independent woman that I am today.
My latest achievement in life is, that I became a plus-size beauty Queen in Puerto Princesa City, and for me and all the plus-size women out there – this is wonderful.
Beauty is such a delicate thing that each one of us has! But the world tends to “label” beauty as someone with fuller lips, big pair of boobies, a big rounded butt with itty bitty waist. We are so focused on physical appearance that lots of the time are not even ‘real’! This can become so unattainable for young girls, thinking they are not beautiful enough. All that, because they do not look the way the world portrays “beauty” and I think that is sad. I can’t wait for that day to come wherein girls and women will love and appreciate their body just the way it is! Beauty is not even just physical display, but the way you feel about yourself! Also, the way you see yourself in the mirror or talk to yourself. Overall, it is the way you see and think about beauty!
I am not the first and unfortunately, not the last person saying these words, but the world became so blinded by artificial looks.
Health is important to me because I believe that we only have one body, which we should take care of! At the same time, I won’t go as far as to the point wherein I’ll have to starve myself just to fit in society’s mold! You can be plus-size and healthy at the same time by eating your greens – I love my vegetables-, visiting the doctor from time to time to make sure everything is fine. If you feel like you need to and want to work out because it makes you happy, then go for it!
I’ll always encourage every woman out there to love themselves, to accept every single thing about their body – its flaws and its beauty. Not to settle for something and someone that will make them feel bad or ashamed about their body. I would love to let every woman know that we are enough, we are sexy, we are beautiful just the way we are. And if you want to change something about yourself, do it for yourself – ONLY FOR YOU and not for anybody else.
Yeah, I have those days when I feel bad about myself when I look in the mirror because my tummy is not flat. 😀 But when I see those over-edited images on social media that they call perfect, I can’t help to feel proud of myself because I know I love myself for who I am. I love my body enough to show everyone that this is my body and I don’t have to edit it for anybody’s satisfaction and approval. I can say I used to struggle with how I look but not anymore. Now, I accept and love my body and myself the way I am!
As a plus-size woman, what motivates me is being a confident and positive thinker. It’s tough to be plus-size in a world that has an ideal body type. Also, social media imprinted it into people’s minds, what that should be. But I must stay confident and keep my positive aura and vibes, so I can deal with all the criticism and harsh words people might throw at me. Slowly, people are becoming open-minded and much more accepting that a perfect body is EVERYBODY and the world has become a better place to live in. 🙂
I hope this was as inspirational for you as it was for me!
Love,
Alexandra & Jeah