[Screwston]

Quote:

When she was in high school, Lizzie Velasquez was dubbed "The World's Ugliest Woman" in an 8-second-long YouTube video. Born with a medical condition so rare that just two other people in the world are thought to have it, Velasquez has no adipose tissue and cannot create muscle, store energy, or gain weight. She has zero percent body fat and weighs just 60 pounds.

In the comments on YouTube, viewers called her "it" and "monster" and encouraged her to kill herself. Instead, Velasquez set four goals: To become a motivational speaker, to publish a book, to graduate college, and to build a family and a career for herself.

Now 23 years old, she's been a motivational speaker for seven years and has given more than 200 workshops on embracing uniqueness, dealing with bullies, and overcoming obstacles. She's a senior majoring in Communications at Texas State University in San Marcos, where she lives with her best friend. Her first book, "Lizzie Beautiful," came out in 2010 and her second, "Be Beautiful, Be You," was published earlier this month.

"The stares are what I'm really dealing with in public right now," she told Dr. Drew Pinsky in an interview on CNN's Headline News this week. "But I think I'm getting to the point where… instead of sitting by and watching people judge me, I'm starting to want to go up to these people and introduce myself or give them my card and say, 'Hi, I'm Lizzie. Maybe you should stop staring and start learning'."

Velasquez was born in San Antonio, Texas; she was four weeks premature and weighed just 2 pounds, 10 ounces. "They told us they had no idea how she could have survived," her mother, Rita, 45, told the Daily Mail. "We had to buy doll's clothes from the toy store because baby clothes were too big." Doctors warned Rita and her husband, Lupe, that their oldest child would never be able to walk or talk, let alone live a normal life. (Her two younger siblings were not affected by the syndrome.)

Instead, she has thrived. Her internal organs, brain, and bones developed normally, though her body is tiny. Since she has no fatty tissue in which to store nutrients, she has to eat every 15 to 20 minutes to have enough energy to get through the day. One brown eye started clouding over when she was 4 years old, and now she's blind in that eye and has only limited sight in the other.

"Some days life doesn't make sense," she writes in "Be Beautiful, Be You." "You just have to change what you can, ask for help and pray about the rest."

She notes her triumphs and posts inspirational messages on Tumblr, and says that she's learned to embrace the things that make her unique. Instead of trying to retaliate against people who have made her feel badly, she sets goals for herself and pushes herself to succeed in spite of the haters. She's even reclaimed YouTube, video blogging about everything from bullying to hair-styling tips to staying positive.

"I feel really glad that I don't look like the celebrities out there that are so beautiful," she told Dr. Drew. "There's a lot of stereotypes attached to that." Not looking like a supermodel "gives people the opportunity to know you personally," she explains. "If they're willing to take that extra step they'll get to know the person you really are."

Of course, the horrible comments left on that old YouTube video stung (the video has since been removed, but Velasquez says she read every single comment). Now, she says, she understands that they're "just words."

"I'm human, and of course these things are going to hurt," she said. "Their judgements of me isn't who I am, and I'm not going to let these things define me."

"I didn't sink down to their level," she said in a follow-up video on YouTube last year. "Instead, I got my revenge through my accomplishments and determination. In the battle between the 'World's Ugliest Woman' video vs. me, I think I won."

http://shine.yahoo.com/beauty/lessons-wo...00606.html

[caps]

she deserves any good that comes from her speaking out and putting herself out there. she's been through some shit we'd never be able to comprehend in our worst fucking nightmares. same for her family. I wish them the best, real talk.

[bacon]

given all the weird fetishes out there she probably can still find someone turned on my her disease

[Norset]

At least the world has moved forward, back in the day she'd been in some circus - now she can profit from her affliction herself, in a way more dignified way. In some sense she's lucky that this is a condition from birth, if you had known normal reality and got that disease.. shit.. I'd kill myself.

[Screwston]

She has a better attitude about life than most American women and men.

[beta_plus]

She may be the world's ugliest woman, but she's still cuter than many of the fatties that I saw tonight in downtown DC.

[MikeCF]

Yep.

There are a lot of people with real problems.

But guys will come on here and cry that life is hopeless because they are 5'8" and born into the richest country in the history of the world.

[Tuthmosis]

It's funny, I saw this video yesterday and thought the same things as I did about the article above:

1. We take a lot of shit for granted.
2. Props for having good attitudes. Positive, but not overcompensating.
3. Given the opportunity, would I bang?

[Samseau]

Absolutely horrific, I feel like a piece of shit just for ever complaining about my life now.

[kbell]

She reminds me of special needs people, especially the ones that can't move in the wheel chairs. I feel awful about how they have trouble just doing the basics in life. Oddly enough they often seem happier than everybody too or have a better frame of mind. I wish her a lot of success.

She also probably gets far more societal shaming than the ultra obese do.

[WestCoast]

This is downright depressing. Life can always be much much worse. Never listen to what people tell you can or cannot be done.I feel like shit.

[Cookie]

While I wouldn't call her attractive, but she is definitely not the world's ugliest women.

To me the ugliest women would be something akin to that fat Jezebel hog we all made fun of yesterday. A women who's intentionally disfigured and mutilated herself, while maintaining a bitchy and self centered attitude. Seriously, that obese monster acted like eating a god damn candy corn Oreo was the most atrocious thing to ever happen to her.

This Velasquez girl might have been born with a horrible and rare disease, but she still has a positive and (from what I gather) friendly and altruistic attitude. Would I be sexually attracted to her? No. Could I talk to her and treat her like a normal human being? Yes.

It's a fucked up world when someone suffering from circumstances beyond their control gets harassed, yet some unpleasant, self absorbed, and self destructive piece of shit has a legion of admiring zealots that defend her self inflicted flaws.

[tarquin]

Sometimes when I feel down, I watch this guy.

Everything seems trivial in comparison.

[chochemonger1]

(09-13-2012 10:23 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

It's funny, I saw this video yesterday and thought the same things as I did about the article above:

1. We take a lot of shit for granted.
2. Props for having good attitudes. Positive, but not overcompensating.
3. Given the opportunity, would I bang?

If most American women had her attitude, you would never hear a complaint, from me, about them again. Sadly, it takes a sense of humility and reality from a deformed women like her to show you its all about the fucked up culture and not individuals.

[Samseau]

[Tuthmosis]

(09-13-2012 10:40 PM)Cookie Wrote:  

While I wouldn't call her attractive, but she is definitely not the world's ugliest women.

To me the ugliest women would be something akin to that fat Jezebel hog we all made fun of yesterday. A women who's intentionally disfigured and mutilated herself, while maintaining a bitchy and self centered attitude. Seriously, that obese monster acted like eating a god damn candy corn Oreo was the most atrocious thing to ever happen to her.

This Velasquez girl might have been born with a horrible and rare disease, but she still has a positive and (from what I gather) friendly and altruistic attitude. Would I be sexually attracted to her? No. Could I talk to her and treat her like a normal human being? Yes.

It's a fucked up world when someone suffering from circumstances beyond their control gets harassed, yet some unpleasant, self absorbed, and self destructive piece of shit has a legion of admiring zealots that defend her self inflicted flaws.

[R Smoov]

Woman of the Year.

Now I'm going to sleep for class tomorrow,and when I wake up I hope that the average American woman will follow her mentality, humility, and dedication to do the best in life despite whatever holds them back.

[oregonziggy]

Exactly she has to live with something most of us could never comprehend. Yet she has a massively positive attitude towards life.

Yet I listened to American women complain on a daily basis about how terrible their lives are for the most meaningless crap.

[Sourcecode]

Are her breast fake?

I dont understand how her tits could be so big if everything else was skinny

[Caractacus Potts]

"If all the world's ills were heaped in one pile most men would take back their own."

I don't remember if Socrates or Aristotle was the author of this quote, but I remember reading it when I was in school. We are all lucky to have "First World" problems.

[jaakkeli]

(09-14-2012 08:15 AM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

Are her breast fake?

I dont understand how her tits could be so big if everything else was skinny

Breasts are made up of fat and some specialized milk production etc tissues. I would guess that she has a normal amount the non-fat tissues and it looks "big" because she's a skeleton otherwise.

[Riker]

That's awesome. Thanks so much for posting this story.

[bliss]

(09-13-2012 10:40 PM)Cookie Wrote:  

While I wouldn't call her attractive, but she is definitely not the world's ugliest women.

To me the ugliest women would be something akin to that fat Jezebel hog we all made fun of yesterday. A women who's intentionally disfigured and mutilated herself, while maintaining a bitchy and self centered attitude. Seriously, that obese monster acted like eating a god damn candy corn Oreo was the most atrocious thing to ever happen to her.

This Velasquez girl might have been born with a horrible and rare disease, but she still has a positive and (from what I gather) friendly and altruistic attitude. Would I be sexually attracted to her? No. Could I talk to her and treat her like a normal human being? Yes.

It's a fucked up world when someone suffering from circumstances beyond their control gets harassed, yet some unpleasant, self absorbed, and self destructive piece of shit has a legion of admiring zealots that defend her self inflicted flaws.

preach it brother!

[americanInEurope]

This woman is mad inspirational. Especially in the world of game, something can be learned from a person who takes constant hate and judgement and rejection in stride. I bet if she was a guy in game she'd have a really strong frame and could probably pull some hot ass.

I've often said that even the though the world sucks sometimes, and it seems like some people are born with more advantages than me, I still thank my lucky stars every day that I'm relatively "normal" and can take care of myself without assistance. I really have nothing that I can't overcome with enough time and patience, and I have no excuse especially when seeing people like Lizzie. People think that the assholes who are staring and judging her are stupid nobody's, easy to just shrug off. But a lot of the times, these are people that you just can't shrug off and never see again, people you work with, people you have to interact with, "smart" and educated people that have influence over others, rich people, people that command respect, people who to the casual observer would seem nice and thoughtful, yet in this one little way they are extremely unwise and stupid. I bet some of the people who tease her even give money to charity for people born disabled, or may even sometimes feel sympathy or compassion when seeing disabled people on TV. But at that one moment, when they decide that they have to judge her or say that she shouldn't have been born, they are fucking morons, and are not held accountable for it for the most part, until someone like LIzzie calls them out on it.

And no I wouldn't hit it. She'd def. be a cool friend to have tho

[Screwston]

People online (and in person?) would rather make fun of her than fat cows.