Estefania Villarreal, the ‘Rebelde’ actress who still suffers from ‘body shame’ after 20 years

It was in 2004 when “Rebelde”, a group of teenagers who studied at an elite school, conquered viewers. The story that launched the music group, currently on a world tour, to fame; Despite the rhetoric of classism, misogyny, bullying, and fatphobia she incorporated into her text.

In addition to its protagonists (Mia, Lupita, and Roberta), the story also relied on other characters such as Selena, who suffered hurtful comments from other characters regarding her weight gain.

The pictures showed the suffering of Selena, who was attacked because of her body, which was different from the majority of the female characters in the story, so she did not dare to wear a swimsuit and felt that she was less than her peers.

It was part of the fantasy, yes, but no one questioned the level of verbal attacks the character received, nor whether it could have in any way affected actress Estefania Villarreal, who was 16 at the time.

The path to empowerment

Estefania started a self-love campaign in 2017 When she posted a message in which she spoke about freedom, personal empowerment and unconditional self-love: “For me, it has never been about a size or a number, but about loving every inch of my skin. It’s a daily mission to be honored.” To love, respect and love the structure I have.”

And in 2022 he also talked about it: “My idea is to open the way to other possibilities in this diversity of bodies.For people to feel safe and empower themselves; “Tell the world, ‘Here we are,’ like plus-sized girls, and open the door to more people who see us as an inspiration.”

Self-care and self-love have become the actress’ science. Last August, for example, she posted a photo alongside which she stated that although there was a lot of effort and self-love inside, there was also sadness, disappointment, healing, emotional support, family, friends, and a lot of strength.

Continue reading the story

Their mission: to end ‘body shame’

For all of the above, the actress could not remain silent in front of the video published by TikToker Jesús Arana, who claims to be a plastic surgeon, mocking that he tried to disguise himself as Mia Colucci and was confused with Selena.

The actress was quick to respond and said that she finds it unfortunate that in 2023 there are people who “still believe that the body of a 16-year-old is an object of ridicule.”

She also expressed regret that the plastic surgeon used “body shaming” to generate likes and expressed how sad she was that 20 years after “Rebelde”, they were still harassing her because of her body shape. Finally, he recommended that he grow up and read about mental health.

But that was not the end of the story because TikTok tried to defend itself by belittling the actress’s feelings: “Who is making fun of you? You are ashaming your body. In other words, you assume that showing your appearance is wrong. Relax.” “, he stated in another video.

Villarreal once again exposed him for his “misogyny and lack of sensitivity” and warned him to be more careful in what he published in the future.

Estefania settled the argument by reminding him that “You have no right to talk about my body or other people’s bodies, even if I am the most wonderful doctor in all of Colombia. In case it’s not clear, we won’t talk about other people’s bodies.”

This is not the first time that the former “rebel” has had to come out to defend herself against the criticism she receives because of her appearance. Last September, Maite Perrone was forced to respond to comments she received because she did not resemble Lupita, the character she played.

In an interview with the program Primer Impacto, the actress and singer emphasized that the extra kilograms do not matter to her because the only thing that is right in her life is that she brought her daughter into the world, which was part of her current process Insan: “It does not matter if you look more fat, or less fat, “With more, with less, in life we ​​go through different stages and I think we have to learn to embrace and accept who we are.”

Fatphobia does not remain in the text of “Rebelde,” even in 2004. Nor does misogyny. Two decades later, actresses still face this problem. Even Anahi suffered when they told her that the heroines are so thin and beautiful, “and you are chubby and you have to work a lot on yourself.”

I wish the world had changed as much in these twenty years as it has.

You may also be interested | On video

Christian Nodal’s surprise at Kanye Garcia’s concert in Mexico