Sioejeng Tsao

Sioejeng Tsao

by marlies|dekkers

Pirate: Cheng I Sao

Embodied by: Sioejeng Tsao (visual artist & activist)

There was one moment during my transformation into Cheng I Sao that I looked in the mirror and saw my ancestors. It was so intense! Like an out-of-body experience, except I was still very much there. Because I was carried by the love and fighting spirit of all the strong women that came before me.

Growing up without strong cultural role models, I often felt ashamed of my Chinese identity. Why wasn’t I white and tall, with blond hair and blue eyes? Life would be so much better! About 4 years ago, everything changed. I became involved with a community of social activists and started to speak out against racism. In that process, I started to embrace my Chinese ‘otherness’. For example, I stopped apologizing for my ‘difficult’ name. It really isn’t that hard to pronounce, people! Just be open to try.

Posing on the beach, I thought I was being fierce enough, but it wasn’t enough for Marlies. Apparently, it’s quite hard to get rid of the female societal conditioning to always be ‘pretty’. « Access your raw, inner power by screaming! », Marlies told me. All of a sudden, I remembered the martial arts classes of my childhood. I let out this bloodcurdling roar which immediately kickstarted my ‘pirate’ spirit. It was amazing! At one point, Marlies even had to tell me to tone it down a bit, much to both our amusement. Definitely something I’m taking with me from the shoot.

Believe me, becoming a lingerie model wasn’t exactly my life-long ambition. But reading about Cheng I Sao – who happens to come from the same region as my mother! – I felt honored to play a part in telling her amazing story. It’s about time that women, and especially women from marginalized cultures, get their rightful place in history.

Follow Sioejeng on Instagram.

 

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La marque marlies|dekkers offre un large choix de lingerie fine et sexy qui peut être portée par n’importe quelle femme et qui correspondra parfaitement à ses besoins. Sur notre blog Maison Marlies vous pourrez en savoir plus sur ce qui se passe en coulisses chez marlies|dekkers. Que vous souhaitiez en savoir plus sur la créatrice, son style de vie, ses idées de recettes saines ou bien son style incroyable, vous trouverez tout cela sur le blog. Cette femme d’affaire arrive à trouver le temps d’écrire à propos de ses voyages d’affaires, de ses virées shopping et de ses vacances quand elle a le temps de se reposer. Et même en étant en vacances, elle prend le temps de vous raconter tout ça.

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Les célébrités sont aussi heureuses de porter le parfait soutien-gorge marlies|dekkers. Ces femmes montrent fièrement leurs ensembles lingerie marlies|dekkers dans les shooting photo des magazines, sur scène, lors d’émission tv ou bien sur grand-écran. La Maison Marlies a dédié un espace spécial sur son blog pour parler des inégalités homme-femme qui persistent, mais aussi des évolutions et progrès. Marlies souhaite l’égalité homme-femme dans le monde et en fait sa mission.