Georgina Rodriguez, the 32-year-old fiancée of Cristiano Ronaldo and mother of his children, responded to criticism of her body in an Instagram post, saying she loves her curves and questioning who gets to decide what the "right" body looks like.
Rodriguez shared bikini photos along with a message reflecting on her body and her confidence. She wrote that her body would change, as every woman's body changes, and that she hoped it would keep changing for many more years, because that would mean she was still alive.
Lessons for her daughters
She then turned to the lessons in self-confidence she wants to pass on to her children, particularly her daughters. Rodriguez is the mother of six children, three of them girls. She said she wants to teach them, together with Ronaldo, that a person's worth can never depend on their appearance or on the opinions of strangers. She said she feels deeply proud of the values Ronaldo passes on as a father and a man, and that the small dose of positive psychology she tries to offer her children every day also helps her stay grounded in a world full of pretension.
Ronaldo's response to the criticism
Rodriguez also described a conversation with Ronaldo, 41, about the criticism of her body. She said being called "fat" had worried her because she makes her living from her image. According to Rodriguez, Ronaldo told her she does not live off her image but from who she is: a perfect woman, beautiful, with a wonderful body, a mother, a good person, successful, and someone who lives life with love. He asked her what more she could want.
She said the criticism repeats itself almost every year with mathematical precision, noting that the funny thing is that it happens every summer, when her body becomes news again.
"Who decides what body is right?"
Rodriguez asked who decides what the "right" body is, and questioned whether people still believe happiness comes in one particular size. She said she exercises because it makes her happy, not to lose weight.
She said the hour she spends at the gym each day is one of the best parts of her day, giving her health, mental calm, discipline, energy and wellbeing. She said it has never been a fight to lose weight but always a way of taking care of herself.
"I love my curves"
Rodriguez said she loves her curves and the freedom to live in the body she chooses, one that has supported her, allowed her to embrace loved ones, bring life into the world, and fall and rise again. She said her body deserves respect, love and gratitude in every version of itself.
She closed the post by saying success, to her, means living with calm and being surrounded by the people she loves. That means enjoying her family and friends, taking care of her health, laughing, learning and living, she wrote.
