Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles - I was doing an internship one time. Somebody working there, he told me don't bring snacks to work because you're gonna get chubbier than you already are. - I grew really fast. Faster than most of my Asian-American friends. - I swam all my life, so I have big shoulders. It was normal for my family and family friends to just tell me that I'm big. - They're like oh, Diane, like, you got a little chubby. Or like, they'd just say those small things when they first see me. - My thighs are bigger, my arms are bigger, my boobs are bigger. - In the later part of my childhood I was told that I was chubby, and that it's a shame because I used to be so skinny when I was a kid. - I don't feel part of my body. Every time I look into the mirror I see something different in every mirror. - Size-wise, and culturally, I was just, like, just different from everyone else. - For Asian women, in my experience, is that we need to be thin and that means not muscular. - You need like a tiny waist but you still have to have curves. - Going to Japan, especially, I get looks that I'm not quite Japanese because I don't have the nice, fair skin, I don't have a tiny, like, petite body. - There's always something to fix. - Usually when my mom makes comments it's in the middle of dinner and I just think that I was almost out of here without her saying one comment about my weight or how much I'm eating. - It's funny, because my mom will be like here's all this food, don't go hungry, ooo, but don't overeat, but finish all the rice on your plate. It's like, I just like, everything came with a but and it was really confusing for me. - When I was living in Korea the pressures to look a certain way came from every aspect of my life, from my friends, to my family, to my relatives. Um, even from like random strangers who commented on my appearance. - So many rules. Rules and rules and rules, so you could be like this cookie cutter like, shape and figure, and things that they find perfect. It's just like this vicious cycle (laughs cynically) of like, trying to get to a point where I'm happy with my body. - I will work on my body however I please. - When you are different, that means that you're challenging the norm. - You don't have to be thin to be happy. - Like, you do things for yourself and you be healthy for yourself, and you can be thick, and that is okay. - Being different isn't bad. Being different is being you, and being you, you're liberated and you are empowered. - And I'm not skinny. I can enjoy my life without looking perfect. - For all you Asian girls who have big boobs they're really great in the future, k? That's all I'm saying.
A2 asian asian american body chubby skinny bigger Asian American Women Share Their Body Insecurities 424 24 Pedroli Li posted on 2016/04/14 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary