Multi-platinum Filipina singer and actress Geneva Cruz just got real about her experience of having to change the way she looked at a young age to fit the beauty standards of the local entertainment industry.
In a candid Instagram post, the 44-year-old shared a collage of her photos through the years at different ages as she said, “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.”
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“Growing up I was made to believe by my parents that I was beautiful in my own way — long hair, medyo (somewhat) morena, medyo malapad na ilong (had a somewhat wide nose), 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,'” she shared, “until I started making movies & was told that my nose was just too big for the movie screen.”
Geneva revealed that she was 16-years-old when she was told to alter her nose “a bit” which affected her self-image in the years to come. “I thought something was wrong with me… & I carried that for many years kahit iba na ilong ko (even when my nose changed),” she said. “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 with the Smokey Mountain, & I was like ‘WTF is wrong with looking like her? I think she’s pretty.’ Some would even say she looks better than me coz gawa ang ilong ko & at least sa kanya hindi (because I got a nose job and at least she didn’t). I just couldn’t win w/ them… as if it was my decision to touch my nose,” she continued.
Eventually, she came to love the way she looked and was proud that all the bullying she endured throughout her career made her become a much stronger person.
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“I’ve come to love the nose I’ve had for 28 years— same bridge, just narrower, kasi deep inside, pareho pa rin naman ako sa pang-loob eh (because, deep inside, I’m still the same person). And because I was bullied so much in show-business growing up… it turned me into a stronger person, kaya kung puro sat-sat ka lang pero wala kang talino (that’s why if you keep running your mouths without thinking first), don’t even bother trying to make me feel bad with your senseless noise kasi ibabalik ko lang din naman sayo yung ginagawa mo (because I will do the same to you),” she added.
She then had this to say to all Filipinos who felt insecure about their facial features: “To all my fellow Pinays/Pinoys na Pinoy na Pinoy ang ilong… 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. (To all my fellow Pinays/Pinoys with Pinoy noses… you don’t have to change anything with your face because you are beautiful no matter what they say; but there is nothing wrong with wanting to change something, as long as it’s what you want and not what others want for you.)”
“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, & identity goes w/ it,” she ended. “I am enough and I’m grateful.”
Geneva comes from the famous Cruz clan of Philippine showbiz, which includes Tirso Cruz III, Sunshine Cruz, Sheryl Cruz, and Donna Cruz. She is also the cousin of actor-dancer Rayver Cruz, Rodjun Cruz, and lounge singer Glenda Cruz. She launched her career in 1989 as one of the lead singers of the iconic now-defunct group Smokey Mountain. She just recently moved back to the Philippines from the United States where she worked as a weight-loss coach for a few years.
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