AISHA IS PROVING BIG IS BEAUTIFUL
AFTER witnessing plussize friends being called names for their body shape on nights out, Aisha Namurach decided she wanted to prove that big is beautiful.
The council worker from Cardiff, who wears a size 22, is in the final of Miss Plus Size UK and hopes to inspire others to feel comfortable in their own skin.
“I’ve seen other plus-size friends being harassed for their size – being called names in the street and on nights out,” said Aisha, 32, from Mynachdy.
“I stand up for myself because people have got to know it’s not OK to speak to someone like that.”
As a teenager, Aisha used to get upset because she couldn’t find clothes to fit.
“My aunt used to take me to the only shop that made clothes in my size and I would cry because there was nothing I wanted to wear,” she recalled.
“I always knew I was never going to be a slim Jim and I would never have dreamed I could be a beauty queen one day.”
She usually wears a size 22, but buys clothes ranging from size 18 to 24, depending on where she shops.
Aisha, who has worked for Cardiff council for seven years, entered Miss British Beauty Curve last summer – a pageant designed for women who wear size 14 and above.
She missed out on the crown, but won the Miss Top Model award.
Boosted by her success, Aisha decided to enter this year’s Miss Plus Size United Kingdom competition.
She completed an online application in February, which involved writing a personal statement and submitting some photographs of herself.
Aisha forgot about the application during a holiday to New York and was surprised to return to an email inviting her for a group interview in London.
“It was quite intense,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d hear back, then a week later I had an email to say I was in the final. I was amazed because they said there were hundreds of applicants.”
She is now preparing for the final, which will be held at the Royal Bath Hotel in Bournemouth on September 24.
The finalists will take part in three rounds – swimwear, evening wear and casual wear – before being interviewed on stage in front of hundreds of people.
In the meantime, she is looking for sponsorship and community projects to get involved with.
The finalists will be judged on the number of “likes” on their Facebook fan pages, as well as their performance on the night.
“I hope I have a really good chance of winning,” she said. “I feel positive about it and I’d love to bring that crown home for Cardiff.”
Some people who oppose plussize pageants have argued they encourage people to be overweight, but Aisha disagrees.
“It is not about promoting obesity,” she said. “It’s about recognising that beauty doesn’t have to come in a tiny package.
“My goal is to inspire other young women to be who they are and know their worth – to know that it doesn’t depend on their size or on society’s preconceptions of how they should look.”
A spokeswoman for the pageant said: “Larger women are often rejected by other beauty pageants and we are here to change perceptions.
“We need to let the world know that it is possible to be plus size, intelligent, and beautiful.”
To support Aisha, visit her Go Fund Me page https://www.gofundme.com/aisha4mpsuk1617 and follow her on Facebook by searching Aisha-Monic Namurach Finalist Miss Plus Size UK.