Lizzie Velasquez: They Called Me The World’s Ugliest Woman
A woman, who is constantly dogged and harassed because of her physical appearance, makes a change and inspires millions of people. When she was in her 17, Lizzie Velasquez watched a video on YouTube titled The World’s Ugliest Woman. An 8-second video that reached over 4 million times turned out to present herself. “I was shocked, but it wasn’t until I started to read the comments that my stomach really sank,” Velasquez said, recalling the event of nine years ago.
After seeing the video, someone commented her parents should not keep her. The other person wrote to kill her with fire. Some people even suggested Velasquez to suicide and said they would be blind if seeing her directly on the road. The thousands of comments made Velasquez tremble. She cried for many nights. As a teenager, she thought her life was over. She could not bring herself to talk to anybody about it.
Velasquez was born different. When she appeared to the world, her weight was only 2.2 pounds. Now, at the age of 26 years, her weight reaches 60 pounds. Velasquez is suffering from Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophy. The diseases makes her body weight could not be increased even though she eats in a large amount. Her body is unable to absorb nutrients from the food she takes, so her bones are brittle. And her body is difficult to recover when exposed to infection.
At the hospital, she often had surgery, ranging from eye, ear to the foot. Her right eye could not be used at all while the left is damaged. These conditions make her physical appearance different. As a result, she is often afflicted or bullied by her friends and people who do not know her.
However, at home, Velasquez is filled by the love of her parents, Rita and Lupe. Since Velasquez was born, they never regretted their daughter’s appearance. Because of her parents’ urge, Velasquez is able to think positive even though afflicted and abused. The strength is capable of making Velasquez smile, do good to others and forgive those condemning her. “I don’t know what they’re going through. While my life may be hard at times, they could be going through something much worse,” she said.
Starting from the positive attitude, Velasquez decided to make a change. She created a YouTube channel and made the audience know who she was. At the same time, she was encouraging others to be more confident of their appearance. Now, her YouTube channel is subscribed by 240 thousand people.
Currently, Velasquez also campaign with Tina Meier, a mother whose daughter committed suicide due to being afflicted in the virtual world, to encourage the House of Representatives preparing anti-abuse legislation. Through the law, Velasquez hopes all schools are required to crack down on acts of abuse.
The life story of Velasquez is summarized in a documentary titled A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story. Sara Hirsch Bordo, director of the film, said it was actually intended for everyone who had been and was overwhelmed. Lizzie Velasquez documentary is now playing at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas.
