68 |^15 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.co.za

S

HE’Dalwayslongedtobe

partofthebevyofbeauties

competingforthecoveted

MissSouthAfricacrown.

Whentheglitzypageant

recentlyannouncedthe

top 16 contestants,Beulah

Baduzawasthrilledshe’d

made the shortlist.

But it wasn’tlongbeforeherexcite-

ment turned tohorror.“WhenI checked

my social mediathatevening,I couldn’t

scroll beyond thefirst 10 tweetsbecause

I was being attacked,”shetellsDRUM’s

sister magazine,YOU.

“People weresayingI wasinsulting

actual plus-sizegirls.Themostpainful

thing is I’ve never,notonce,calledmyself

a plus-size model– theindustrydid.”

Beulah (23) foundherselfatthecentre

of a social mediastormwhenshewas

described as a“proudlyplus-size”law

student in herbioontheofficialMissSA

website and thebeautypageant’ssocial

media accounts.

Fellow contestantSasha-LeeOlivier

(26) was alsointroducedtothepublic

as a plus-sizemodelfromAlberton,

Gauteng. She’spursuinga doublemajor

in marketing andpsychology.

It’s not the firsttimeshe’sbeenbody

shamed, Sasha-Leetellsus.Asa model

with a curvaceousfigure,she’soften

faced discrimination.“Youknow,when

I’d go to castingsI’dhearremarkslike,

‘Oh I didn’t knowwewerecastingbig

girls’ or ‘You’retakinguptoomuchspace,

love’ and that wouldreallyhurt,”shesays.

“According tothemodellingindustry

anything thatisn’ta samplesize,which

means a size zerotosix,isconsidered

plus size and thatisn’treality.”

Beulah nods.“I’veneverintroduced

myself as a plus-sizemodel,butwhen

you go to enoughcastingsyouhearit so

much you startbelievingit,”shesays.

“Even thoughthishasbeena painful

experience, I’mgladit happenedbecause

it’s started a conversationthatneedsto

happen globally.I knowtherearemany

girls in the worldwho’dlovetobecome

models, but becausetheyhavebums

and hips, the industryshutsthemout–

and it’s not okay.”

S

O WHATsizearetheyexactly?

Sasha-Leesaysherjeanssize

is 36,but“we’reallshaped

in differentways,soa pairof

jeansI wearwouldsitcom-

pletelydifferentonsomeone

WE LOVE

OUR CURVES

When Miss SA announced the inclusion of two

“plus-size” models in this year’s top 16, social

media blew up over what exactly it means

BY NKOSAZANA NGWADLA PICTURES: ONKGOPOTSE KOLOTI

NEWS