BEAUTY’S FIGHT FOR DIVERSITY

MISS Universe Australia Maria Thattil wants to change perceptions of identity and beauty after believing she “never felt Australian enough” to work in the modelling industry.

“I grew up with a lack of representation of culturally diverse Australians, and it impacted how I felt about myself, and my own sense of identity,’ Ms Thattil said.

“I didn’t feel as if I had options because I didn’t see people like me doing it. There was an image of what it was to be Australian, and I didn’t fit.”

She added: “I always felt I was never Australian enough, but being a third culture kid, I wasn’t Indian enough, either. You feel like you’re teetering on a precipice, and about to fall between the cracks.”

Despite those odds, Ms Thattil signed to a modelling agency in 2019, was crowned Miss Universe Australia last year, and placed top 10 in the pageant’s world finals in Miami in May.

She is now leading an industry campaign to change perceptions of Australian identity and beauty.

Ms Thattil is an ambassador for the Shein Bella unsigned model search, which is scoping the country for culturally diverse talent.

“We’re calling on everyone whose faces, voices and stories are needed in representing our beautiful national identity,” she said.

“It’s an opportunity for people to come forward and be welcomed for who they are.”