Georgina Rodríguez, the Argentine-Spanish model and businesswoman who is engaged to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, has spoken out after a fresh wave of negative comments about her body following the publication of new photographs of her on a boat.
Rodríguez shared a conversation she had with Ronaldo about the criticism, posting it alongside a series of photographs in which she shows what she calls her cherished imperfections, the same features she says she feels comfortable with and that still win over the father of her children.
She wrote that her body will change, as every woman's body changes, and that she hopes it keeps changing for many years, because that will mean she is still living. She said she is the mother of six children, three of them girls who will one day be grown women, and that what she wants to teach them, together with Ronaldo, whom she said she is deeply proud of for the values he passes on as a father and as a man, is that a person's worth can never depend on their physique or on the opinion of strangers. She added that the small dose of positive psychology she tries to give her children every day also helps her find her own way through a world full of fantasy.
What Cristiano Ronaldo told her
Rodríguez explained that she had seen all kinds of comments in recent days about photos of her on a boat, some criticising her body and others defending her. She said she discussed it with Ronaldo and told him she was worried that people were now calling her fat, because she lives off her image.
According to Rodríguez, Ronaldo replied that she does not live off her image but off who she is: a perfect woman, beautiful, with a great body, a mother, a good person, successful and someone who lives life with love. He asked what more she could want, and said it was normal that people envied her. Rodríguez said the two went on to talk about many other things.
She said she was glad that her future husband had reminded her of what truly matters.
A recurring criticism every summer
Rodríguez said this wave of unpleasant comments is nothing new and happens to her every summer, writing that every year her body becomes news again. She asked who decides what the "correct" body is, or whether happiness has a size.
She said she trains because it makes her happy and because she is passionate about it, describing the hour she spends at the gym as one of the best moments of her day. She said it gives her health, peace of mind, discipline, energy and wellbeing, and that it has never been a fight to lose weight but always a way of taking care of herself.
'I love my curves'
Rodríguez said she loves her curves and her freedom to live in the body she chooses, a body that has sustained her and allowed her to embrace others, create life, fall and get back up. She said that body deserves respect, love and gratitude in all its versions.
She said that for her, true success has never been about fitting a standard that nobody knows who invented, but about living in peace, surrounding herself with the people she loves, enjoying her family and friends, taking care of her health, laughing, learning and living. She said she hopes to raise awareness about the need to stop commenting on other people's bodies, since people are far more than their physical appearance.
