From supermodel to super activist, Cindy Bishop says strong is the new sexy

The former model and activist believes that there is room for change within the industry, especially the whole notion of beauty standards and body image. “We’re moving away from the very skinny to stronger, athletic body types and even plus sizes.” She hopes that the show can be a way to empower girls to believe in themselves. “I won’t only be judging the contestants on their photoshoot. I’m also taking into consideration their personalities, their behaviour, the way they face their fears and the way they treat other contestants,” Cindy says. Topics such as body shaming, bullying and perfectionism—issues that have never really been addressed before on a Thai modelling reality show— will also be aired.

Rewind three years to early 2018, Cindy was busy establishing her campaign #DontTellMeHowToDress, a social movement against sexual assault and victim-blaming-problems all too common here. Her journey as an activist began when a newspaper article caught her eye one morning. In the piece women were being told not to ‘dress sexy’ in order to avoid unwanted sexual attention during the upcoming Songkran Festival. “My first reaction was anger! I thought, really, is this seriously the only way to solve this problem, to tell women how to dress?” Galvanised by the article, she decided to record her reaction and post it to Instagram as a way of getting it off her chest. The post went viral and soon people started sharing their own stories and thoughts. “I realised this was something that a lot of women were sick and tired of. Being blamed for somebody else’s actions.”

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A post shared by Cindy Sirinya Bishop (@cindysirinya)

Violence against women and harrassment are daily occurances and Cindy is certain that there are few woman in the world who have not been made to feel either weak or uncomfortable in one way or another, just because their sex. She asks herself why that was. “It triggered me to continue advocating, to continue raising awareness of gender-based violence, and that’s how I came up with the idea to stage the Don’t Tell Me How To Dress exhibition. It showcased clothing worn by victims and survivors at the time of their assault. My message was ‘stop talking about our clothes. Let’s focus on the real issue, which is that men feel they can behave in a certain way and that it’s okay for some reason’.”

Following up on the publicity gained from the exhibition, Cindy published a children’s book titled My Body, My Rules. It explored sexual assault and how youngsters can understand and identify what is appropriate and inappropriate in terms of touching. “These are things we should be teaching our children from an early age but for some reason in Thai society, we shy away from talking about such sensitive subjects,” she says. “Our kids need to be given the right age-appropriate information so that they understand the dangers out there. If I can help parents and kids understand what’s at stake, then I’m doing something good.”

Lauded by the BBC as one of the World’s Most Inspiring Women of 2020, Cindy says she found it humbling to be in the presence of so many other influential ladies. “Because of my persona as a public person I’m used to being in the public eye from time to time. But there are so many women out there doing such important work, often behind the scenes. What they do is much more impactful than what I do and yet they don’t get the limelight. Their voices must be heard and their accomplishments rightly celebrated. The more buzz we can create collectively and the more collaboration we can engender… that’s the best outcome for gender equality as a whole.”

She signs off with a final personal plea to youngsters. “Don’t compare yourself so much to other people. It’s a trap and if you’re not comfortable with who you are, thinking that way will only mess with your head. I’m still learning things about myself and I would say don’t be in a rush to figure everything out right now. Understand that growing up is a life-long process and that it is okay to make mistakes. How you overcome and learn from them is what makes you who you are.”

[This story first appeared in Koktail Magazine Issue 1.]