Transcriber: Federica Bruno Reviewer: Chryssa Rapessi
“Chaya, you are so fat.”
“Chaya, why are you so ugly?”
“Chaya, you can’t even fit into your own clothes.”
“Chaya, you are worthless.”
No, I’m not.
I could not take any of those words anymore, and yes,
these words have been said to me.
One day, while I was riding my bike along the streets, I saw these two girls.
They were trying to pick up a tennis ball
that fell through a hole on a construction site.
I went up to them and said: “Hey, girls, I can get that ball for you if that’s OK.”
And they said: “Get away, ugly.
What makes fat people think that they can do whatever they want?”
I ran away home in tears.
I could no believe what just happened to me.
Once I got home, I told my mom everything that happened
and she said that the reason why people make fun of me is because they’re jealous.
But aren't all mom supposed to say that?
Aren’t they supposed to say stuff that make us feel better about ourselves?
In my mind, I thought that they did have the right to say that to me
because I did not look like them.
I do not have that specific body type that looks perfect.
The next morning I decided to tell myself: “Chaya, it’s OK.
You have to appreciate yourself for who you are and you have to be stronger.”
Well, I was practicing my TEDx speech with all the other TEDx members.
We were talking about beauty and everyone jumped in to talk about it, too.
It seemed like there was this connection between us,
like we all have been through the same pain.
Is that true?
In Japan, in the 14th century,
people whitened their faces and blackened their teeth, for contrast.
They thought if you looked the same, you were beautiful.
If you didn't, you were ugly.
Then, in England, in the 1600s, if you had pale white skin,
it meant that you had class and wealth.
But, if you were a person of color,
it meant that you had no way of achieving your goals.
That is when all those negative feelings come in and enter your body.
It makes you compare yourself to others.
When you look on social media such as Facebook,
we see all these attractive looking people
and we see thousand emotions flowing about them in our minds.
But when we look at ourselves top to bottom,
all we can think of are our flaws.
People start getting plastic surgery, depression, anxiety,
eating disorders and body dissatisfaction,
all because they thought that they weren’t beautiful.
And the beauty industry’s cost is estimated, just estimated,
to be about 425 billion dollars.
That is a lot.
The one thing that really stood out for me
was that women were asked a very specific question.
The question was: “Do you like how your newly designed self
turned out mentally and physically?
Well, 65 percent of women
said that they regret it.
Just regret it.
Why may you ask?
Well, because other people made me feel this way,
and I just let them do that to me?
Was it really worth all of this pain?
Because beauty is pain.
Now, today,
we see all these different type of people on social media platforms,
magazines, and TV shows of different colors, shapes, and sizes.
They know that they are beautiful.
You are.
And I.
Coco Chanel says:
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.”
Jean Anouilh says that things are beautiful if you love them.
If you feel like you’re beautiful, you are beautiful.
Now we know what beauty really is.
Being yourself. Beautiful.
Remember that God has given you your own body type for a special reason,
it’s your choice to either accept it or not.
And people that do, are people that are beautiful.
Beauty within.
Thank you.
(Applause)