The World’s Ugliest Woman Responds – It’s Beautiful
They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, but when you read this story, you’ll start believing that real beauty lies in the heart of a person.
While most of us whine about putting on weight, Lizzie Velasquez faced a problem far worse than a couple of extra pounds on her thighs and stomach. Born prematurely with a rare congenital disease that prevented her from accumulating body fat, Ms. Velasquez has zero percent body fat and has never weighed more than 64 pounds. She also faces several other health issues such as blindness in her right eye, limited vision in her left, and a weak immune system. She is, however, blessed with healthy bones, organs, teeth, and most importantly, a positive, inspirational attitude.
In a society that places an inordinate amount of importance on physical appearance, life is never easy for anyone who looks different. In 2006, cyberbullies posted a YouTube video of Lizzie Velasquez (then aged 17), dubbing her ‘The World’s Ugliest Woman’.
Just like any other teenager, Lizzie was trying to fit in with her peers. Coming face-to-face with comments as hurtful as “just go get a gun, put it to your head and take yourself out of the world. It will be a much better place,” and “put a bag over your head, because when people see your face they’re going to go blind”, would have made anyone devastated. Seeing her biggest insecurities exhibited on the World Wide Web with thousands of views and spiteful comments, the young teenager was shattered.
While most young girls who are criticized for their appearance find it difficult to climb back up, you can only imagine what the effect of being christened as the ugliest woman in the world can do to a teen in her formative years.
Lizzie Velasquez, however, surprised her critics and the world when she chose to use her bad experience to help out other young women in the same predicament. Now a proclaimed motivational speaker, Lizzie has continuously been vocal about her stand against bullying. She has spoken about the devastation of bullying and how to overcome it at one of the world’s most influential conferences: TED.
Her speech, “How Do YOU Define Yourself”, has taken the Internet by storm with over 10 million YouTube views since it was first published online, two years ago on her YouTube channel.
She has also traveled all the way to Washington D.C to present an anti-bullying campaign to Congress and has authored three books about the trials and tribulations of her life- Lizzie Beautiful: The Lizzie Velasquez Story (which she co-authored with her mother Rita); Be Beautiful, Be You; and Choosing Happiness.
Additionally, a documentary entitled “A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story” came out last year.
This is a story about hardship and inspiration. It’s a story of a girl who found her silver lining in a sky of endless gray clouds and not to forget, the story of a girl who inspired millions worldwide and caused them to realize that true beauty cannot be found in a perfect figure or shiny hair. True beauty doesn’t just lie in the eyes of the beholder but reflects in one’s confidence, acceptance, and kindness.
Or as Lizzie Velasquez so eloquently put it in her TED talk, “That YouTube video turned my life upside down. For so long I felt like I was alone in this world. But now I know that it’s okay to go through that struggle. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to be weak. You have to allow yourself to have those times. I guarantee that you as soon as you do, you are going to be ten times more eager to make yourself better.”
And with that, the woman once dubbed ‘The World’s Ugliest Woman’, has proven that she is, in fact, ‘The World’s Most Beautiful Woman’.
