Actor Munroe Bergdof has become the first transgender woman to model in a L'Oréal UK advertisement—appearing in the cosmetics company’s True Match campaign.
“So proud to announce that I am now part of L'Oréal's True Match campaign that stands for diversity,” she wrote on Instagram.
In the video, Bergdof speaks about growing up in the suburbs and being unable to find makeup that matched her skin tone. In a separate Instagram post, she writes about the significance of being a transgender woman of colour being featured in a prominent beauty campaign.
“When I was growing up, transgender women - especially transgender women of colour had next to zero positive representation in the media and there was almost no information or understanding about us," she writes.
“If we were portrayed on television or in films, it was solely in tragic storylines or with our gender as the punchline of a joke.
She goes on to write about the effects of being exposed to transphobia in film and TV as a young child.
“As an 8-year-old, I remember watching the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, starring comedian Jim Carey, at a classmates house after school. Sorry to ruin the ending if you haven't seen it (don't bother), it ends in the movie's villain being caught, stripped to her underwear and exposed as in fact 'a man'. Then to add insult to injury, everyone in the room starts vomiting as they have all engaged in sex with her. This film was given a PG certificate.
“Imagine being eight years old, knowing that you're transgender but not having the language to verbalise it and then seeing a scene like this including a trans person, played by a cis woman - it may see trivial to some but I carried that 'punchline' throughout my adolescence, it made me feel guilty and confused about who I truly was, so I pushed my true self into my subconscious and tried to be someone I was not. "
As an adult, Bergdof says she is “so proud to be doing my bit for transgender visibility in the media” and commented on her role as an activist.
“I’m by no stretch of the imagination a perfect person, but none of us are,” she writes.
“However, I'm a whole person, with flaws, aspirations and interests. I'm often referred to a role model for the community, which annoys me because none of us need to be compared to each other. But I'm definitely down to be considered as a role option if anyone does see themselves in me or my story.
“Thank you L'Oréal for giving me this platform, I hope it reaches another little 8-year-old trans girl and makes her feel a little more hopeful and a little less scared about her future, than what was installed in me when I was her age.
“The world is changing and I like how the world is changing.”
