MALALIM ang hugot ng singer-actress na si Geneva Cruz patungkol sa kanyang itsura noon at ang mga pagbabagong nangyari sa buhay niya ngayon.
Diretsahang ibinandera ni Geneva sa madlang pipol na nagparetoke siya ng ilong noong 16 years old pa lang siya kahit na tumututol ang kanyang isip at puso.
Nag-post ang dating member ng grupong Smokey Mountain sa kanyang social media account ng photo collage kung saan makikita ang kanyang transformation mula noong magsimula siya sa showbiz.
“When I look at old photographs of myself, I seem to know how old I was based on how I looked: face, weight, outfit, and hairstyle.
“Growing up I was made to believe by my parents that I was beautiful in my own way — long hair, medyo morena, medyo malapad na ilong, bright-eyed, pretty smile, long legs… In short, I grew up confident in my own skin.
“I never lacked suitors, so I thought, ‘Hey! My nose is pretty wide but it is alright,'” bahagi ng caption ni Geneva sa kanyang post.
Pero nang magsimula na siyang gumawa ng pelikula maraming magsabi na napakalaki raw ng kanyang ilong sa screen.
“Until I started making movies & was told that my nose was just too big for the movie screen. [emojis]. I was only 16 when I was asked to have my nose altered a bit and I thought something was wrong with me… & I carried that for many years kahit iba na ilong ko.”
Pagpapatuloy pa niya, “Trolls loved to hurt me coz I was timid; they didn’t know how else they could hurt me, so they made my old nose a target.
“They even said things like I looked like Melai Cantiveros daw when I was in ‘Smokey Mountain,’ and I was like, ‘WTF is wrong with looking like her? I think she’s pretty.’
“Some would even say she looks better than me ’cause gawa ang ilong ko and at least sa kanya hindi. I just couldn’t win w/ them… as if it was my decision to touch my nose,” pahayag pa ni Geneva.
Habang tumatagal daw at lumilipas ang panahon, naging manhid na siya sa mga kanegahan at panglalait sa kanyang itsura.
“Because I was bullied so much in show business growing up, it turned me into a stronger person.
“Kaya kung puro satsat ka lang pero wala kang talino, don’t even bother trying to make me feel bad with your senseless noise kasi ibabalik ko lang din naman sa’yo ‘yung ginagawa mo,” aniya pa.
Ito naman ang mensahe niya sa lahat ng mga gustong magparetoke dahil lang sa bashers, “Wala kayong kailangang baguhin sa mukha ninyo, dahil maganda na kayo kahit ano pa ang sabihin nila.
“Pero wala ring masama kung may gusto kayong baguhin, basta ito ay talagang kagustuhan ninyo at hindi ng ibang tao.”
“What I know now is that when we derive our worth from the relationships we have in our lives — romantic, social circle, work — we give away our power and become dependent upon external validation, and when that’s taken away, our sense of value and identity goes with it.
“I am enough, and I’m grateful,” ang madiin pang pagtatanggol ni Geneva sa kanyang sarili.