From a young age, Gedis (24) was always fascinated by the carnival queen elections on television. “Ever since I was little, I used to sit in front of the TV watching most of the queen elections, but since I was always a bit heavier, I never imagined myself on stage until a few months ago.” Despite her doubts due to not fitting the "traditional" physical standard, her desire to participate grew when her team encouraged her to enroll and participate.
“What inspired and motivated me to take this step was seeing how many people believed in my potential to participate, just like a young woman who doesn’t ‘fit’ the standard of the type of ladies we’re used to seeing in queen elections.”
During her journey to the crown, Gedis faced moments of doubt, but she maintained a positive focus and ignored critics to achieve her goal. “I embedded from the beginning that if I was going to participate, I would not let my mind or others’ opinions that wouldn't help me reach my main goal, hinder me. I overcame this by always looking at the positive side of every situation that presented itself.”
Her preparation involved personal challenges, managing nervousness, and developing public speaking skills. “In my preparation, it was more a personal challenge not to demotivate myself. I had to work a lot on my patience, which I normally have very little of, on my character, and to push myself to go to all the training without making excuses. But the biggest challenge was definitely the training for my speech, as this is not something that comes naturally to me. I get nervous the moment I have to present in front of an audience, big or small.”
Initially, many of her loved ones thought she was joking about her desire to participate, but now she has their total support. “Many of my close friends and family thought I was playing a game with them when I told them that I would be participating for the Queen of Carnival 70. Even a few days before my coronation, some were still asking me if I was sure about this decision.”
Gedis’ main message is about self-acceptance and authenticity. In a world filled with image pressure, she emphasizes the importance of believing in oneself. “As I said at the end of my speech, always embed in your mind that you are enough, no matter what people say. This is written for Edselyn, but it's surely what I've always believed in. You can only believe, improve, and move forward when you believe in yourself, a crucial ability to have today, especially in the modern world where we constantly see people breaking others down for just being themselves, unapologetically.”
You referred to yourself as the 'dark cake' of Aruba, highlighting your pride in your identity as a curvy, brown-skinned woman. How do you hope your victory will inspire other young women who don't identify with traditional beauty standards?
“I hope and also feel that me, winning the highest title in this contest, has helped many people believe and love themselves more. I have opened doors for everyone to demonstrate to Aruba and the whole world that at the end of the day, the color of your skin, the size of your clothes, or where you come from, do not stand out more than the love you have for yourself and the confidence you have in yourself and your talents.”
Was there a point in your life where you didn't feel enough self-love? How did you overcome this feeling?
“Yes, during my teenage years is where I suffered most from a lack of self-love. I was a victim of bullying for about 2 years because my appearance was different from most of the other students. This came from people who I did not know, nor did they know me, which made me feel much less ‘beautiful’ because I was not thin or light-skinned like them. I overcame this feeling by following great models in the plus-size beauty world, which helped me regain my love for the modeling world where I started modeling for an agency that opened doors for me to model in large local shows. And with this, I can proudly say today that I am confident in myself and that no one's comments about my body can affect me because I do believe in myself.”
“My greatest wish is to see more young people participate in everything they desire, whether it be for Carnival, a sport, or a talent show, and certainly everything the world has to offer us, regardless of their appearance and what people say.”
“The daytime parades. They make me appreciate my Aruban community and our talents on an impressive level. It fills me with joy to see how the people become one, despite all our differences.”
“It’s definitely a long day. I wake up early in the morning still in shock because there are days when it still feels like a dream that I, a thick, dark-skinned girl from a very humble family, am the Queen of Aruba's Carnival, number 70! Get my hair and makeup done because there are some interviews or meetings to go to. Then at my designer’s and team's house to work on more carnival stuff until late, but with much appreciation, music, and laughter.”
If you could choose a superpower to use during Carnival, what would it be and how would you use it to inspire and unite the community of Aruba?
“Not to sound over-confident, but I think I don’t need to choose because I already have it, which is to continue showing the people of Aruba how confident I am in myself. I see in the reaction of the public that it helps many of those who one day did not believe in themselves, to start believing in themselves and also inspires and motivates the little ones that nothing between heaven and earth is impossible if you are just yourself.”
“I would like to see a carnival with much more diversity, not only on the streets but also in the competitions, from Prince and Pancho to Tumba and beyond.”
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