story

Hey, it’s Cheetah here, welcoming you to Untied! and today I’d like to introduce you to Stencia, dancer and founder of the initiative Beautiful Pendere. The word 'beauty'

always seemed rather alien to me because I didn’t conform and I still don’t conform to beauty standards. I’m a black woman, shaven head, unusual features. For me beauty isn’t just physical,

instead it lies within, in what we are, in what we represent, in the energy we have, in the charisma we exude, in the way we see the world. Beautiful Pendere

is the site I created a year ago. I interview racialised people about their relationship with their beauty. It helps us to no longer feel alone and to recognise that our stories are pretty common.

Beauty is accepting our flaws, accepting our vulnerability, being as true to ourselves as possible really. Everything that I’m doing at the moment, 

I am doing it for myself, I am doing it for the community, but above all I am doing it for future generations. It’s up to us to give them as many tools as possible to help them change the world. That you can be different and be yourself and still succeed,

it’s been a long road but it helped me accept everything about myself. Thanks to this site, this whole experience, I’m redefining my codes of beauty.

Untied

Episode 4