‘I’m sure I was always Doménica’. Transgender artist Doménica Menessini makes her way into modeling with brands from Ecuador

She was born in 1990. She is an actress, has worked on television and since 2019 has also dedicated herself to music. She has released two songs of her own, lyrics that she rescued from her notebook from her adolescence, when she wrote nonstop and without imagining that her compositions would have their own sound that could be heard on digital platforms.

Domenica Menessini, An actress from Guayaquil trained at ITV, she was recently part of the advertising campaign for the beach season collection of the De Prati chain. She was one of the models who wore the designs of the local brand and her appearance is synonymous with inclusion for the LGBTI community. With this, she paves the way for future generations who, like her, seek to demonstrate her abilities and skills without being discriminated against.

This is not his first campaign. Last year she was selected as the face of the Dove brand. This newspaper spoke with the 32-year-old artist about her artistic experiences and her life and work aspirations.

How did you participate as a model in the beach collection?

De Prati came about like everything else, with castings. They propose to you because for a little while De Prati has been handling the issue of inclusion in a more obvious way. This is not the first time they have done it, I was going to be part of that campaign, but there was a problem with the times and it could not be done. Then this opportunity came, with time I was able to do the audition, The client approved me and it happened.

Do you work with an agency or have a representative?

Until now I have worked alone, they have always communicated with me when they wanted me to be part of their project. Here in Ecuador there aren’t any, but there should be more incentives for specialists to handle you so they can get you marks. That is happening with people from the new generations, but I am from the old school, we handle ourselves.

How long have you been modeling for?

I’m not a model, it even makes me laugh that you tell me that, you don’t know what modeling is for me, I’m zero model, I’m an actress and I trained at ITV and graduated there, then I did a lot of theater and then television And over there I did photo sessions, but I’m not a model, but since I’m an actress I use those tools to be able to model. It was a nice experience, it is always a nice experience regarding the photos and advertisements and promotions of different things. But I don’t consider myself a model, models are others with other abilities and gifts, but I push myself.

What did it mean to represent the transgender community through your work in this ad?

Super good, that makes me feel very good, it makes me feel proud of everything, of my path, of my career, and also proves to myself a little bit of what I am capable of doing. As I say, I’m not a model, but I can be a model, it’s like a lot of positive things and the most important thing, regarding the issue of the community and the fact that I’m a trans woman, is the representation that I don’t I take it myself, I would not be able to say I am the representative of, but many girls, many girls, many trans children can see a trans person in a commercial, in an advertisement in a magazine or on the Internet and take it as a reference. Which is what I personally lacked while I was growing up and discovering myself. What I think about is that girl who thinks: if Doménica could do that, I can do it too and that is an important reference that trans life has and that the community understands that we are capable of doing anything, with work of course, not out of luck

Seeing my face leaves me with a very good taste because it’s not just about me, it’s about a lot of people who aspire a lot and who can do a lot.

What other campaigns have you been involved in?

Yeah, I was recently on the Dove campaign talking about hair and I was able to share a little bit about the brand’s hair products and I was able to share a little bit about my own experience with hair, what it was like for me, what it meant for me to get and get to see myself with long hair. For me, for my personal path, it was very important to look very feminine, because it made me feel more feminine. That has changed a bit over the years, that I no longer rest on how I look, but at the beginning of my transition, hair was very important. It was important to be part of this campaign that was also seen on television and was seen everywhere.

Have you been discriminated against for being a transgender woman?

Of course, every day. But it doesn’t happen all the time, nor does it happen on a large scale, but every day trans people suffer discrimination because there is still not much information about our existence, about our reality. The trans issue is taken as a very taboo subject or something very unknown or far from reality.

When did you discover that you were Doménica?

I’m sure I was always Doménica, Doménica always lived in me because I’ve always been a woman, but I didn’t understand it or I didn’t have a way to help me around me because nobody understood it. We are talking about the nineties and it was very difficult for my family, even for my mother who has been a very important pillar, who has never abandoned me, she has tried to understand me as best she could, but even so, with that love she could not explain to me and could help me to understand what was going on with me.

What I can tell you is that I have always felt that I was a little different compared to the other children around me. I always felt more identified with everything feminine, with expression, with gender and even after I was able to talk with the first trans person I met in my life, I realized that she was a trans woman too, but that She was a woman, she was always inside of me. That’s why I don’t think I discovered Doménica or that I believe Doménica, I think she was always there, I just let that part of me come out. Just as I accepted the feminine of my being, I also accept the masculine. I am a total duality.

How do you accept it?

Anyway, my obviously masculine physical characteristics that I haven’t been able to hide yet and don’t even want to hide anymore. There were things that bothered me a lot as a teenager that no longer do, but I imagine because of age, that they care less, I no longer notice them. I have embraced my masculinity too. Growing up and living taught me and also helped me understand that I am a trans woman, that I will never stop being a trans woman, but that my path as a boy, because I walked as a boy for a long time, is also important, valuable and is my everything.

His career

Did you always want to pursue art or did you discover it growing up?

Of course, when I left school I was at the Catholic university studying law. It was an interesting experience because you can imagine that at that university, at that faculty, the issue of inclusion in general was a bit difficult, at that time, in those years.

Although I liked the degree and I followed it for a year, it was not my vocation, I understood that it was not my vocation to be a lawyer. And after that I had a little artistic search until I got to acting and immediately as soon as I could I started studying acting at ITV. And from the first year I began to work with my teachers in plays and since then I have not stopped. Then I did television and then theater again. I always return to the theater, it’s what I’ve done the most, what I’ve worked on the most, but I’ve done a little bit of everything. But that’s where my artistic life began, I realized that my place, my vocation, what made me happy was art, acting and from there other things came off, singing, acting.

Professionally, since 2012 I have been doing theater. On television I was in a reality show which was very popular dance the night which was broadcast on channel one. I have been in several series as extras, I was also in a series of CT Television it was called Four rooms, I have been a guest many times in many productions.

I have also done cinema, in 2019 I starred in a Paco Cuesta film that is not ready yet, but it was an incredible experience. The movie is called Fried fish, I think they are going to change the name. It’s a crime drama movie.

When did you decide to get into music?

Music has always been close to me, it was always around me, in fact music is very important to me. I can’t wake up one day and not listen to music. And besides, I have always written, I surprised myself when I found a notebook in which I wrote songs since I was 14 years old, so there has always been this artistic force within me, but before I was very afraid to expose myself in the musical theme because I have always considered that here it is difficult to make art and in music it is even more so.

Suddenly I wrote a more romantic song, I showed it to someone and I was already recording it, I already had a date to release it on Spotify, I did a small release. that song is called Look at me, and I took it out in 2019. In 2021 I took it out A) Yes.

It was a kind of catharsis for me because seeing your musical project already done is incredible, it’s a feeling that of course I want to feel again.

Social networks

On Instagram, the artist has a space called Talking to the Dome, in which she recounts her experiences while putting on makeup and then shows a Show linked with his makeup. On TikTok, on the other hand, humor is part of its content.

In addition, it is part of staff of podcast How do I tell you, idea of ​​Kristel Cruz, with varied topics, from an informal conversation through her experiences. They have two months with this project and have already presented twelve episodes. (I)