It is Sunday, two days after our school’s Spring
Concert. I awoke Saturday morning with
a pretty aggravating headache that basically sidelined me the whole day, which unfortunately
meant that I was not able to be productive at work. However, while my body is filled with fatigue,
and my head is filled with pain, my thoughts go back to joy as I think of this
past Friday night.
Last Friday, I was a princess, my favorite princess, Belle.
Isn’t my dress the most beautiful thing? It was made by our school’s art teacher. This man has talents in the arts that I have
never seen before. He is extremely
gifted! Look, he even transformed my
husband into a prince.
Last Friday was a dream come true. Belle is by far my favorite Disney
princess. I think her songs are the best
and I love to sing them. She is also the
princess that loves to read and was also one of the first princesses to be
smart, intelligent, cunning, and able to see past appearances. While the beast in the movie saves her, she
also does her part to save him. I would
think that after the movie ended, that Belle would be a librarian or a
teacher.
I have always wanted to be a princess, but I am something
that all Disney princess are not. I am a
tall and plus-sized woman. In my past
experience with musicals and even duets these two things proved to be obstacles
in my path. No one wants the princess or
the main female lead to be the same height or taller than her male
counterpart. I remember in college I
wished to sing a duet with one of my closer guy friends. When I talked to my vocal teacher about this,
she told me that it wouldn’t work because it would look too weird, and we looked
like we would never belong together (He was a lot shorter and thinner). This is the same vocal teacher that asked
another student if I was sick from eating too much when I was unable to make it
to one of her classes. As I have expressed
in previous posts, I have a condition called PCOS that makes it really hard to
lose weight, and very easy to gain. I
know that my food choices are not always the best, but I am working on it and
am working out exercising more. Right
now I been in the process of me coming to the realization while that I may
never be stick thin, I can be beautiful.
I also am working on a healthier relationship with food. In the past, in order to keep myself from
gaining weight, I would try to limit my daily in take to a Lean Cuisine, apple,
and a granola bar just to maintain my current weight.
On Friday, a man decided to go against all of society norms and
told me that I could be a princess. He made
me a dress fit for one and never once told me that I was too big or too tall. Since I have known this man, he knows that I
love Belle, and has never once dissuaded me from embodying her on dress-up days
and has even let me be her twice for concerts.
I cannot explain, and I don’t think my art teacher knows just how much
that meant to me.
What was also interesting was that no one told me that I
couldn’t be Belle. I live in a country
where there is no sugar coating. If you
are overweight, they will tell you. No
one told me that I looked weird as a princess.
Everyone told me that I looked beautiful. Children came up after the concert to take a
picture with Miguel and I. No one questioned it. I was Belle and I was a
princess.
My husband told me he fell in love with me all over again
that night. I love it. I love this dress, and I love what it stands
for. If it were possible, I would teach
in this dress. Just picture that while I am trying to do science labs.
Let’s question this American standard of beauty, guys. Why can’t the leading woman be heavier, than
the male lead? Why can’t they be
taller? I can really only think of one
leading lady that is heavier in musicals, and even she is typically very short
in size (Tracy Turnblad). LET’S CHANGE
SOCIAL NORMS OF BEAUTY PEOPLE!
That’s it. That’s all
I got. After the clock struck midnight,
I was a princess no longer, and just a normal middle school science and math
teacher.
But even Cinderella was left with memories of her evening of
dancing with her prince 😊
(Yes, I know I switched Disney movies to make a point….but
just go with it.)
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