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Trying to change: Maria Thattil has confessed she tried altering her appearance when she was younger to appear 'more white'
By DEMETER STAMELL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 13:57 BST, 27 May 2021
Maria Thattil has confessed she tried altering her appearance when she was younger to appear 'more white'.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the 28-year-old Miss Universe Australia admitted she was bullied so badly as a teenager she tried to abandon her Indian heritage.
'I started wearing white makeup, eye contacts and colouring my hair because I thought people would treat me better if they think I am more white,' she revealed.
'In my teens, I stopped listening to Bollywood music, I stopped eating the food and even stopped speaking to my extended family.
'That is what a lack of representation and bullying and racism will do to a person - it can make them wish that they occupied skin that was not theirs.'
After placing in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant in Florida earlier this month, Maria is now using her platform to help other people of colour.
Fitting in: In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, the 28-year-old Miss Universe Australia admitted she was bullied so badly as a teenager she tried to abandon her Indian heritage. Pictured at the Miss Universe competition in Florida earlier this month
'I started wearing white makeup, eye contacts and colouring my hair because I thought people would treat me better if they think I am more white,' she revealed
The daughter of immigrants who was born and raised in Melbourne, Maria addressed her critics who claimed she wasn't 'Australian enough' to represent her country in an impassioned column for Stellar magazine earlier this month.
'Like many "third culture" kids, I used to feel like an awkward in-betweener - never feeling Indian enough to be Indian, or Australian enough to be Australian,' she said.
Maria revealed how she was often subjected to cruel jokes and racial stereotypes growing up, and admitted trying to hide her ethnicity in her teens and early twenties.
Waving the flag: The daughter of immigrants who was born and raised in Melbourne, Maria addressed her critics who claimed she wasn't 'Australian enough' to represent her country in an impassioned column for Stellar magazine earlier this month
Bullied: Maria revealed how she was often subjected to cruel jokes and racial stereotypes growing up, and admitted trying to hide her ethnicity in her teens and early twenties
'I wore foundation three shades too light and green contacts to appear more Caucasian, and I laughed along to racist jokes,' she said.
Maria said she was determined to use her platform at the Miss Universe pageant to combat injustice and inequality in Australia and around the world.
'My voice will amplify those who haven't been heard and I hope my presence in this arena will shatter glass ceilings,' she said at the time.
Speaking out: After placing in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant in Florida earlier this month, Maria is now using her platform to help other people of colour
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