Welcome to part 4 and the final installment of the adventures of fat Michelle in fatphobic Hong Kong and what better way to end it than with an aplomb!
Being feminine and ladylike is engrained in all of us, but in Hong Kong, it sometimes seems like it’s the ONLY thing that’s important. The gender stereotypes are thriving over there and to not be dainty and delicate is a sin. It’s also why Asian women are so hyper-sexualised by western society.
I remember a time in my life where looking unladylike was the be all and end all. I remember when I would refuse to try a dance class cause what if I looked stupid or refused to go on a hike cause I would look unfit. I would never have dared to look ungraceful. Well… that was a long way from where I am now, that I can post that video above 👆🏽and absolutely love it! I find it hilarious 😂
I was always concerned with how I looked rather than how I felt because if I looked stupid then I felt stupid. If I looked bad, I felt bad. If I looked fat, I felt fat. (PS fat is not a feeling.) You know what happens now? How I feel dictates how I think I look. Ask me how I look in that video and I would reply: “I look like I’m having fun”, “I look like I’m enjoying myself”. I hate heights, I used to love this diving board but with age, I got more and more scared of it. It was the first time I’ve jumped off it in maybe a decade cause I’ve always been too scared. Ok… I say jumped, more like I stood on it and tried to jump and the movement scared me so much I fell in, same same… 😂 But you know what? It’s good for your soul to be able to laugh at yourself. It’s a gift that you get when you love yourself. When you are insecure, you assume the laughs are at you, when you are the first one to laugh 💁🏻♀️ So here you go, a belly flop with a big ol’ belly.
You know what’s worse than looking stupid on a diving board? Not getting on a diving board at all. #scarrednotscared