Celebs champion body positivity

OLUTHANDO KETEYI

THE recent casting of Naledi on Showmax’s popular telenovela The Wife opened the lid on the progress or lack of body representation when it comes to the small screen.

Gaisang Noge's reveal as Naledi did not receive a warm welcome on social media, with many taking issue with her body size compared to the character in his book.

In the book, Naledi’s weight plays a critical role in her character description, which is that of a plus-size woman. The casting move opened the conversation around plus-size castings on the small screen.

Plus-size roles are often the “fat sister”, the “sassy sidekick” or the “funny girl” and if it’s a romantic story line, a fat girl with low-self esteem is type-cast.

Progress when it comes to proper body representation on the small screens is an on-going journey and to bring progression to the journey, there are individuals who are championing body positivity on screens.

It is worth noting that some TV shows are coming to the party, when it comes to how they are casting fuller-figured women, doing away with typecast fat girl roles and giving them lead roles.

Blackbrain Production’s DiepCity' is one of those shows worth mentioning. Actress Vele Manenje, who portrays Mauren (Momo), had been cast in her fair share of type-cast roles before landing her role on the show.

In a previous interview with Sowetan Live, she spoke about the struggles a “plussize” person experiences in the industry.

“The weight thing has been a struggle (in) that we don’t get leads. There is also the discrimination that you should always play a funny character because big people are funny,” she told the publication.

GAISANG NOGE

THICKLEEYONCE

Manenje said that as more females similar to herself occupy lead characters, viewers and production houses realise that they are worth being cast.

“I’m hoping by having people like myself on screen playing lead roles and others like Nomsa Buthelezi and Mimi Mahlasela that it will create an awareness because we are all leads in our shows,” Manenje said.

“Slowly and surely there are more of us plus-size women occupying lead characters and we are killing these lead roles," she added.

Gomora actress Siyasanga Papu has always argued that South Africa is a country made up of full-figured women, so why should their stories be told by a smaller-sized woman because she looks better.

In a previous interview with TshisaLive she expressed how glad she was to have been cast as part of the lead cast of Gomora as a plus-sized woman, something that was not as common on screens.

“People go into castings maybe with a certain look in mind, and you (as the plus size actress) have the additional job of making them doubt, ‘are we really looking for a skinny person or a person who really can bring this to the role and tell the story?’” she told the publication.

“It has taken a while for us to get to a place where a fullfigured woman like myself can be part of the lead cast of a big telenovela. Just a couple of years ago, that was unheard of,” Papu added.

With the rise of body-shaming thanks to internet trolls, more celebrities are fighting back and embracing the body positivity movement and encouraging their followers to do exactly the same.

Photographer and digital content creator, Lesego Legobane, better known as Thickleeyonce, uses her platform to shine a light on plus-size women.

The model has had her fair share of backlash because of her advocacy for fatphobia. She once came under fire for her tweets where she spoke out about the body positivity movement being hijacked by people who are already accepted in society.

Her views may not sit well with everyone but that has not stopped Thickleeyonce and she continues to flood her timeline with messages encouraging people to step out of the box and accept plus-size women wearing what they want and they claiming spaces.

The body positivity movement is moving and viewers are on the train, so maybe it’s time for more local productions, especially casting directors to jump on the train and challenge those stereotypes.

Fuller-figured women in the entertainment industry are no longer holding back when it comes to being seen or heard. Even when it comes to the fashion designers they are dealing with, if you don’t have the necessary sizes, someone else does.

SIYASANGA PAPU

VELE MANENJE