People respect you as much as much as you respect yourself : Why I understand Monique's F.A.T chance now

Last week I watched the entire show/contest that Monique has for full-figured women. When I was heavier and I first heard of this show about two years ago, I was immediately disgusted and refused to watch a moment of it. Why? I suppose for the same reason a lot of people have issues with larger women. Those women should lose weight. Why are the reveling in their fatness? They need to stop eating so damn much and exercise, they shouldn’t be proud that they are a "plus size".

Over the weekend I watched this show with completely different eyes, with a whole new set of thoughts, emotions and judgments. The women who ultimately made it to Paris for the runway show were all larger women, who had self confidence issues because of their size. I watched these women transform in a “TV week”, (about 2 hours) into women who loved themselves more and were confident enough to strut down the catwalk in cute outfits, and beautiful evening gowns. As I watched their transformation, I became a little envious of their ability to put themselves out there and not be ashamed of themselves because of their size. The ability to exude beauty and confidence even if society tells them they are not beautiful based on typical American standards really impressed me.

As a woman, so much of your worthiness as a person is sometimes judged on how you look, but even if you are a size 4 or a size 24, you can still be incredibly insecure about yourself and abilities. Guess what people? The way you feel about yourself on the inside affects your life and relationships more than you could imagine. The feelings you carry around about yourself can be easily picked up by others. I’m learning that more and more each day.