TESTIMONIALS
"Cunt is the most derogatory term for women. It's an aggresive word offending everything that I stand to be".
"Calling a women 'girl' is infantilizing and implies that she is less credible because of her gender"
VICKY 18
It sounds silly and maybe I should have done something about it. The guy who worked in the paid parking lot right beside my gym, called me "Chestina". He and his buddy used to yell this every time I came out of the gym and walked up to St. Catherine Street. It escalated from simply yelling that name at me, to following me and taunting me the whole length of the parking lot. He would wait for me every Saturday afternoon and harass me this way. It was super embarrassing, and, as a result, I stopped going to that gym. In fact, I don't think I ever took that metro stop again. It's funny now to think that I didn't ever say anything, but just put my head down and walked as quickly as possible on the other side of the street...If my daughters told me this, I tell them to walk right up to him and greet him with a hearty "Go Fuck Yourself!".
KARINA
"I am an athlete, -a swimmer-, a high performance 17 year old athlete that swims five days a week, 2 sessions per day.
My personal goals are not to look skinny or be the "it" girl in high school. I am just pursuing my own passion: a lifestyle I chose over 8 years ago.
Due to the sport I practice and the effort I excerpt, I eat, and I eat a lot. Which then brings my internal struggle...So I count my calories. But of course, I cant get through a day like that, so I just eat what my body tells me it needs.
However, people don't take into account any of this.
I moved from Cancun to Panama and back to Cancun, after 2 years. 2 years of change. 2 years of a new nutritionist, new swim coach , new practice, new routine. I won 4kg of muscle which was a personal achievement. However, my friends in Cancún didn't appreciate this. At a party someone asked me if I kept swimming in Panama. "It looks like you weren't... haha. How much do you weight now?" How could he ask me such nonsense? You should never ask a girl abour her body... ever. I felt SUPER embarassed.
In Panama, a girl from school said that she swam when she was younger but stopped because her mom told her that her back would be "like a man". I walked away thinking "Is my back like a men's ? Is there something wrong with that?"
I began to question myself about what she and others may think about my back.
And that questioning often comes back, and not just from my back (haha). I know I won't have the big booty or breasts; an internal controversy invades me.
I won't ever quit this lifestyle because of stupid comments like the ones above, but it bothers me that the culture focuses on the GIRL in the athlete, not the athlete in the girl."
MARIANA 17
"My ex said that if I gained more weight, maybe I would have bigger boobs. Without even considering the fact that he knew that I had always been insecure about my body and I was just starting to accept myself. It just crushed the hard work I had put into loving myself. I broke up with him after a 10 month relationship."
SAB 19
"I was thirteen and got stung by a bee in a school field trip. I went with the teacher and told her what happened. A guy passing by said: “Oh my god, you got stung by a bee? I can see that! Even your face is swelling up.” He then called me fat. He didn’t even consider how hard I was trying to loose weight. How I was watching everything I ate, how I was exercising everyday, etc., so I could look like the "other" girls.
He made me feel worthless. He made me think that the body is the only thing that matters in a girl.
You can see how one simple joke can change someone’s life? You never know what’s going on with every person you encounter.
Everyone is fighting a battle. Be nice.
KATIA 20
"I've been called Dougla, which is a term used to describe a mix of races of people of color.
They were debating about what I was... I'm not white, but not black... I'm a 'Dougla'.
They said 'you're not black'. They stripped me off my identity. Furthermore, why did they feel the need to label me. I am me.