“OITNB” star Dascha Polanco speaks out against brutal body shaming
When Dascha Polanco – the Orange is the New Black star who plays Daya – made her grand entrance at People En Español‘s 50 Most Beautiful 2016 gala, she exuded confidence in a white dress covered in criss-crossed cut-outs. Yet, this isn’t what outlets such as El Gordo y La Flaca chose to focus on. They instead partook in body shaming and paid attention to the fact that Venezuelan TV host Daniela Di Giacomo wore the exact same number.
When reacting to this, Dascha initially stated, “Now in days comparison is the new form of flattering & approval within the press/social media. No approval needed! Let’s be relevant by being you and seal it with a kiss girl @danydigiacomo. #HairFlipBye ?? #LatinosAlwaysComparing#50MasBellos #BeYou.”
As for Di Giacomo, according to Wzak, she responded to the dress situation by writing this on social media: “Hahaha typical you reach the #alfombra of #peopleenespanol of #los50masbellos and you get the beautiful bombshell #DaschaPolanco using the same dress! Puesss I say, we have the same taste! #loveher.” Though Daniela responded with love and positivity, the same can’t be said of El Gordo y La Flaca.
Instead of celebrating how beautiful these women looked in their identical dresses, the TV show instead pit them against each other. When watching the El Gordo y La Flaca clip, you can clearly hear the two actresses being compared, but it seems that they cut out the part when Dascha’s body is discussed. Nonetheless, once Polanco got word of this, she took to Instagram and condemned the show’s hosts for partaking in body shaming.
“It’s really tasteless to come across today that a host of @univision @elgordoylaflaca have used poor choices of words that have become offensive,” Dascha wrote. “They have created an environment in which it has ignited bullying across their platforms & has instigated against my weight due to the same dress being worn by one of their host and I last night. Interesting that they chose to glorify something so superficial like this, and not focus on the issues Latinos face in Hollywood. I don’t get how they allow their reporters to use profanity to make noise.”
Yes, Dascha and Daniela both wore the same dress to an event, but they rocked it in their own unique way. Ultimately, both women looked stunning and body shame shouldn’t have ever been part of the equation.
