The entertainment industry has always been exposed for being cut throat and very difficult to get into and retain relevance. For Lesedi Matsunyane-Ferguson she too never had it easy, despite being the daughter of the legendary Connie Ferguson and the step daughter of the late Shona Fergsuon.
They say pretty and light skin privilege prevails, the body image is always a focal point in a lot of roles as well as the music industry. Speaking to Candice Modiselle on her podcast called The Five Minute Call, Lesedi dished out on how she never got roles based on how she looked, despite having the talent.
"Its been real a couple of times. There's been a couple of auditions I went to where what hurt the most was being told by the casting director that 'out of everyone you had the best performance but they went a certain way because you didn't have the look'. So it didn't matter whether you could encompass that character fully. Then it became about the look, and if not the look it became about the prominence."
"It became really prevalent around those times for me that you really have to fight twice as hard, and already I'm fighting twice as hard just based off my identity. Now I have to fight even harder just because of how I look, how I express myself and how my body is shaped."
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Another female celebrity always advocating for body positivity is Lamiez Holworthy who has had her fair share of bullying and body shaming. Whenever she showed off her dark inner thighs and thick body, she would get trolled.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Lamiez reflected on being bullied for her outfit on Live Amp.
"After reading the crazy comments under this post, I decided to use this opportunity to TEACH," she started off. "There’s a reason why I didn’t edit or use a filter to hide my thighs simply because...Dark skin on the inner thighs can be experienced by anyone, regardless of skin tone. It occurs when the skin on the inner thigh produces an abundance of melanin, a pigment that gives skin its color."
"This is called hyperpigmentation. The discoloration of dark inner thighs may even stretch into the bikini or groin area. Black child, it is perfectly normal and okay," she said before putting her trolls on blast.
"And to everyone else, before ong phaphela (before you become forward) or anyone else for that matter- ask yourself gore “Ke tsena kae” (what does that have to do with me?) I don’t have a problem with it, so why should you????"
"My name is Lamiez Holworthy and this is ME in my purest form. I’ll be damned if I edit my pictures to appear tinier or to hide my cellulite or stretch mark or two.
"You know why? I am tired of women (young and old) putting themselves under unnecessary pressure because of social media and it’s fucked up standards! Imagine trying to look like someone who doesn’t even look like themselves?!" she said.
"I am a public figure with millions of followers- most of who are woman of all ages and it is my responsibility to show them that it is OKAY TO BE NORMAL and that NO ONE can use your flaws against you when you make peace with them.
