November 30. Bonifacio Day. I have always been a fan of a man who fight for his cause, specially when I believe to their cause.
I was having my morning coffee at a certain cafe along Edsa when I saw a woman, in her late twenties and is quite larger than the average. Or in short, MATABA. Nothing is wrong with her, physically just as I've thought. But some people who saw her, thinks otherwise. I was observing their reactions to the woman. Some just don't care at all, some just glance at her. What intrigued me was the reaction of these group, they were grinning from ear to ear, and to top it off, they were making fun of her weight. They were imitating the way she walk with exaggeration. The woman, noticed what they were doing and just walked away, embarrassed, her cheeks were red.
I was left there, thinking. Why was she embarrassed? Why did they make fun of her? Why was she not doing anything? And why do those kids acted that way?
Fat is an adjective. Fat is JUST a word. It should not define you, nor make you feel less about yourself. I, myself is also fat. I used to think that being fat is a hindrance. A hindrance for me to wear clothes, I wanna wear. Things, I want to do. Five years ago, gaining weight is a no no for me, that would be the end of my world. But I was wrong... Completely wrong... I shouldn't be thinking that way, I shouldn't be reacting that way.
When I first noticed I was gaining weight, I went thru a lot of stages. Yes, just like break up (",). I was in denial first. I would joke around that I was just filling the space in my clothes. I tend to eat more whenever I feel mad about people teasing me about my weight. I was cynical too, I would also compare others to my body. Why are they like this and I'm not. It was bad.
Until one day, my friend introduce me to this blog. The Plump Pinay. I didn't even know what the word Plump means until I googled it and learned its "well round" or "Chubby". It was Stacy and Danah Gutierrez who founded it. Two beautiful young ladies (they're younger than I am). The cynical in me thought "Hindi naman sila ganoon kataba for them to say that" But as I go over their blog, little by little, I am enlightened by their entries. How they wanted everyone to love their body, how they lifted each reader by reminding them how beautiful they are regardless of their sizes.
The Plump Pinay Stacy & Danah
Royal Plumpies
These two girls reminded me, my size, the woman's size should not be a hindrance in achieving self confidence. I'm not saying that I was depressed with my weight, but there were days where you feel "blah" about yourself.
My family from the mother side were also plus size. Nevertheless, I grew up thinking it is okay to be fat as long as your heart is healthy. I should not lose that principle.
Present time, I find it disappointing to know how people tend to discriminate women who's size are not 0-2. Sometimes, I hate to admit it but media has something to do with this. Because of things they advertise they forgot the value of equality. That not everyone who's skinny is healthy and not everyone who's fat is also healthy.
Let me qoute what the twins said,
"We have had enough-- enough with the stupid media that bombard very
unnatural images that make us want to change every bit of our bodies.
Enough with the Caucasian looking models that only make us want to hate
our beautiful Filipina features. Enough suppressing our urges to eat
good Filipino food just to look like the women shown by the
advertisements in our country. ENOUGH. Not all people are meant to be
thin as the media evoke"
Again, Fat is just an adjective. We can all be fat and Fabulous. The word should not define you, nor make you feel less about yourself. And besides, with how advance the technology now is, everyone has a fair share of things, regardless of size.
Now, let me go back to my opening, November 30 is Bonifacio Day. Andres Bonifacio is the man behind KKK. He fought for what he think what was right. I want to be like him, fighting for my right, fighting for equality., Let's all fight for our right, for our equality. Let's all try to have a small portion of Andres Bonifacio within us, we are after all a portion of his offspring right?
Next time, someone would say you're Fat, just say thank you. It's not bad as it looks like. Positive thinking, gets positive results. (^_^)
