What's the bravest and most liberating thing you've done since you started your body acceptance journey that makes you a bona fide Plump Pinay?
"When I was in Pampanga, I was very unsure of myself. I feel that every time I go out. I’ll be the laughingstock of other people because I’m fat. [...] Then I started going to this church, it’s called His Life. Did I mentioned that I do pity myself and at times I felt that God doesn't love or care about me? Yea, there are times that I just felt like that. I mean, I tried everything just to lose weight, just to look good. But nothing happened…
It was late 2010 when I started to attend there [in His Life Church]. It's different there, it has a different vibe. And people were warm to me; smiling at me, hugging me, and making me feel that I am special. I feel different there; I feel the love that I didn’t receive from my friends. I started body acceptance when I accepted God in my life. It followed; I was smiling, laughing and just being myself. There was a sermon that really moved me… One of the pastors said… “God loves me the way I am, I tried everything just to lose weight. But I think this is my destiny. I have to be proud of what I am. Because God made me the way I am, and I am the apple of His eyes. I am unique.”
That was just it. It was like, BHAM! That day I started to love my body. I don’t care what people would think. Now, I just care how I look through God’s eyes.
P.S. I have found a man that loves me the way I am. :) He loves my curves! He can't get enough of it!"
"Worse was what the media repeated over and over--big was not in and less was more. In fact, plus-size fashion was just an assortment of unflattering bright rags. The fitted trendy fashion was slow in the coming and they were not my style. I wanted my style out there. I wanted to wear my style. I loved ruffles, frills and laces. If others keep insisting what they think should be plus-size then I have a right to declare what I design is plus-size.
I wanted to inspire people with my creativity. I didn’t want to be just another fashion school graduate. I wanted my art and designs to influence everyone who felt the way I did. Fun, frilly and romantic was my fashion mantra. I was a big girl with big ideas and so, I decided to combine myself and my works. I decided to be a plus-size fashion designer. Plus-size fashion is actually harder to create because there are these generous curves to consider. Easing, darts and gussets also have to be well thought-out. It was a tough road to declare myself as plus-size designer because there was not much of a market then. But I pursued amidst criticism. In my fourth year in fashion school, I took up the task of having a plus-size fashion show inside a mall. It created a buzz and convinced my peers that plus-size fashion was very much part of the fashion world. I worked for two plus-size fashion brands and now I have a business making creative accessories and made-to-order clothing. I welcome girls of any age and size to model for my events."
"I've been fat my whole life--I was often discriminated and been a subject of ridicule a thousand times, which resulted a huge impact on my personality. I am very much withdrawn, I do no got out or meet new people because I have a very low self esteem, and I often think of myself as an ugly, fat girl who doesn't have a life. And I just hated myself for being fat. My dad hated me [too], because I wasn't the type of daughter he wanted to have. He often calls me "abnormal" for being fat and shapeless, and justimagine the impact of being called "abnormal" at the age of 12-14 by the man you looked up to, who you were expecting to save you from "evil forces"; the first man in your life, and he beats you up because he doesn't like it that you are plump; and the irony of calling you a pokpok (whore) when you don't even wear skirts and sleeveless and mini shorts.I almost died from heartache of being discriminated and not being accepted by the society for having an unconventional beauty. Then I decided that the pain just had to stop, they are torturing me because I am letting them torture me. And you know what is the most liberating thing I have done? I accepted who I am, what I'm capable of, and the beauty that I have that not all people can see. That I have a a figure of a "real" woman. I started wearing skirts, dresses. People were surprised, and I gained a few admirers! I have freed myself from the box of pain and torment that narrow-minded people created for nonconformist beauties like us plumpies. I have broke the chains and escaped the prison. We are all beautiful. This is the most liberating thing that i have done. And I give credit to it.P.S. The second most liberating thing that I have done is I got naked in front of a man, I've shown him how flawed I am, and instead of ridiculing me, he kissed the stretchmark that I have on my arm."*She requested that her named be changed for privacy purposes.
"My coach began his great speech about how I weighed so much and that I was, as the aforementioned, more of a liability than an asset to the [dance] team. I remember clenching my fist and swallowing hard, stopping myself from screaming at him. He ended his speech by dictating to me in front of everyone what I could and couldn’t eat followed by a long list of things that I should and shouldn’t do. But instead of causing a scene, I did both of us a favor and just smiled and stepped off the scale.The evening that followed was spent discerning and weighing my options. Should I still stay on the team and continue torturing myself because of this man who thinks less of me because of my weight? Or should I just quit and find other options?Of course we all know that the latter choice won. I decided that I wasn’t going to let that terrible man make me feel like horrible about myself all because I was heavier than everyone else. I concluded that I didn’t need his approval—or anything from him, for that matter to do what I love. In fact, I didn’t need people who made me feel inferior because of the numbers that showed every time I stepped on the weighing scale, at all.That was the most liberating thing I’ve done in my journey to self acceptance, learning how to stand up someone who belittled me because he was too narrow minded not to see beyond the physical."
"The bravest and most liberating thing I did was to apply as a plus-sized model. I felt the urgency to let everyone know that modeling or high fashion is not just for the "perfectly" measured bodies anymore. It's for everyone else. And I truly believed I can be a model. I researched and emailed my portfolio/resume to all the modeling agencies and fashion companies in Metro Manila. It hurts to receive replies of decline, telling me I don't have the required measurements. But that did not stop me. I kept applying to different companies until I found out about Erzullie, a clothing company that caters to the plus sized women. I was interviewed, and I can't believe they made me their model!!! I was ECSTATIC!! I practiced posing everyday...and the day of the photoshoot definitely gave me a big boost in confidence. I felt like a SUPERSTAR.Because of this guy who believed in me, I was able to accept myself and take care of myself. My life changed BIG TIME. By the way, the guy I'm telling you about is now my fiancé. :)What I'm trying to say is, when someone or something has become an inspiration to you, they breathe life into you. And everything changes for the better. And now I get to become the inspiration. If you are plus size like me, I want you to know that you are beautiful and everything is going to be OK. Let's hear it for the women who don't give a damn about the size printed on the label.
I am proud to be a BONAFIDE PLUMP PINAY. :)"