Anantha Singjarajah grew up hating her curly hair.
The second-year psychobiology student used to feel insecure about herself because her friends all had straight hair, and they would sometimes tease her. Feeling pressure to conform to her peers’ sense of style, Singarajah would go to a salon to permanently straighten her hair every six months throughout high school, spending about $200 each visit.
But at the beginning of her senior year, Singarajah realized she could either continue spending hundreds of dollars for straight hair, or accept her natural curls. She chose the curls.
Because of her story, Sinjarajah was able to relate to “Pretty Little Liars” actress Nia Peeples, who talked about her own insecurities and expressed her views on self-image at the event “Pretty Girls Cry Too”, which was held Wednesday at the Northwest Campus Auditorium.
Peeples told the audience that she had an unreasonable body image of herself. She said she could get up in the morning and look at the mirror and think she was attractive but come back in the evening and think the opposite.
“I could relate, and I was nodding my head the entire time,” Singarajah said. “You need to accept yourself, and it was great listening to other people’s perspectives.”
At the end of each day, second-year undeclared student Sindy Crisostomo said she stops and takes a moment to think about the physical traits she likes about herself and to remind herself of the good fortune in her life.
Crisostomo also attended the event and said she learned different techniques to manage stress and raise self-esteem, along with personal stories about insecurities about self-image.
Speakers included actress Schatar Sapphira, who shared her insecurity of wearing glasses, and Emmy-winning makeup artist Cynthia Romo, who talked about her clients’ low self-esteem.
Such poor self image could be partially attributed to how the average 17-year-old will have encountered about 250,000 commercial messages about beauty in her lifetime, according to image consultant and keynote speaker Cyndi Targosz. Students who attended the event said they were able to relate to what the speakers said about body image.
“I thought (the program) was interesting. Body image and self-esteem issues are what all college students go through,” said Felice Shang, second-year biology student.