Last night I judged a pageant for the Miss Teen Los Angeles County judging girls from the ages of 14-18. In the middle of the competition one of the other judges (who is a runway model and owner of a model agency) leaned over to me and said, "does this make you feel really
out of shape?" I was a little annoyed he was trying to talk while i was focusing on the girls on stage whose dreams i was about to make or break with my ballot.
I didn't realize it was an insult until today when i was at work and told the girls in my office what he said. Then i realized i had been bullied and have been crying all day. What a jerk. Im 28 years old and will never have the body of an 18-20 year old girl. Anyway, i haven't felt "teased" like that since the 3rd grade and it brought back alot of memories.
So for anyone else out there that may have been teased for being Gay, Fat, Too Skinny, Ugly, A different color, here's my story..(don't pitty me, I'm just relating to those who also may have been bullied, pitty those being bullied now, and teach others to take a stand)
Did u know that i was bullied as a kid for being "ugly" and "fat"? (and I wasn't by the way! I was tall, thank you very much) I was teased terribly from the 3rd grade until the end of 6th grade. They would call me names, tell me i couldnt sit at the lunch table because I was too ugly and fat, and on progress report day two boys would rub carbon copy paper all over my clothes on the school bus. I would look at myself in the mirror and just hate myself. When you are a very tall 3rd grader other kids think of you as "big and fat" and hearing that daily was hard. I would say back, "I am not!" and just walk away. Once I even had snow shoved in my face just for being, well....me. I could go on but this really isn't about me...
Flash forward 20 years and Im at work auditioning kids for a new TV show and just happened to meet a boy named Boston Moreland, a little seven year old with a kind heart and compassion for kids like...well,
me. Boston is a published author after also being teased and bullied by his peers for "looking different"
He decided that there may be other kids like him so he wrote a book about it. Wow. Now that is one cool kid. I told him that I was also teased as a kid and tears (again) ran down my face and he said nothing and just looked at me as if he was saying, "I'm sorry they teased you" and then he just stood up and gave me a huge hug. Ellen Degeneres, if you are reading this, bring this boy on your show!
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| Boston Moreland and his book, "Kid Potato and the Golden Swing" |
Parents have got to start teaching their kids to stand up for other kids. Sad thing is, people aren't just bullied when they are young, there are even ADULT bullies. This has got to stop. I'm not only talking about myself, I am not having a pitty party. Yes I was a chubby kid who was teased and bullied as a child HOWEVER I was blessed to have an amazing mother and family who raised me in a christian home where I was taught that outside beauty was not what mattered. It was about loving others. Being beautiful on the inside. and I feel I grew up fairy confident and with a great self esteem thanks to that upbringing, but for many children who get made fun of...it has gone so far as they have taken their own lives for being gay, feeling "fat" or ugly." This has got to stop.
Ellen DeGeneres has also been talking about the dangers of bullying if you haven't heard already,whatever...they are bullied so much that they take their own life. Click this link below for some information on resources
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2010/10/resources_to_help_stop_bullying_0930.php
P.S. To the Model Agent with the "kind words" sitting next to me who I don't even know your name, you have only made me stronger. And besides, am I trying to be a runway model? NO. Am I trying to be 18 again? No. Am I a 28 year old beautiful woman and I do not expect to look like the girls that were on stage (who were 18 for goodness sakes) that is why I was a judge you jerk. As Tyra Banks would say, "Kiss My Fat Ass!" I'm beautiful.
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