Every skin tone is beautiful, although society's conventional beauty standards may make you believe otherwise. There's still a long way to go in the inclusive beauty movement, but many influential personalities are already taking steps to put self-acceptance at the forefront. One of them is Gabbi Garcia.
Although Gabbi may be a loud and proud morena now, there was a time when she felt insecure of her skin tone. "May stage ako na parang, bakit lahat ng kasabayan ko mag-VTR dati, lahat sila artista na. Hindi ba ako maganda for showbiz?" she recounted in a guesting on the Spotify podcast Updated With Nelson Canlas.
"When I was in grade school,ang chinita ko na ang morena ko. Parang 'di rin ako pale tapos 'di rin ako payat, 'di rin ako mataba. Parang I was somewhere in the middle na 'di ko maintindihan. It was really 'yung pinaka-insecure akong stage," she shared.
As many casting directors favored Western beauty standards at that time, she usually walked away from showbiz auditions empty-handed. She explained, "Out of the 50 VTRs na masipag kong pinuntahan, siguro mga tatlo lang na-book sa'kin. Lahat ng mga nakukuha during that time, mahilig sila sa mga may foreign blood."
Having gone through those difficulties herself, Gabbi's now trying her best to empower fellow ladies and promote diversity. "I was so happy when I was given this platform to just really embrace my own self [and] to inspire other people," she said. "When I was starting, uso pa rin talaga 'yung notion ng tao na kailangan mestiza ka para maganda ka. So it's nice to be able to represent all the other Filipina girls who look like morena, chinita."
Still, Gabbi clarified that she doesn't judge those who choose to use whitening products. After all, her main goal is to simply help others feel confident in their own skin.
"I have nothing against those who like to be whiter. It's your body. You do you, kung saan ka masaya," she added. "But I also like to inspire all the other girls na natatakot."
"We're all unique. Take your time in accepting who you are. There's no rush naman and there's no pressure, but know that you are beautiful. If we all look the same, what will make us unique?" she stated.
She then concluded, "We are all beautiful in our own way, as cliche as it sounds." We couldn't have said it better, Gabbi!
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