How to Embrace Your Body | Gina Hatzis - video Dailymotion

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Gina Hatzis delivers a powerful speech on how she embraced her power after a life-changing encounter that made her question everything.

Transcript

00:00 I'm the too much woman and I am dangerous, can't you see?

00:04 My truth, my words, my hips, my curves, two handfuls,

00:09 maybe three.

00:10 Too loud, too big, too bold, too wild, too sexy,

00:15 yeah, that's me.

00:16 And I won't sit down, shut up or dim, turn it off,

00:19 hide away, baby.

00:21 I was born a too much little girl

00:25 in a big fat Greek family.

00:27 And I was fed compliments along with second helpings

00:30 of everything because food and words

00:32 are how we love in my family.

00:34 They called me beauty queen and blue-eyed princess

00:38 and mm, those words, they tasted as good as mama's cooking.

00:42 And I learned early on that my body was a form of currency,

00:47 that with the bat of an eye and a sweet smile

00:49 and the tilt of my head,

00:51 I could buy me more love and attention.

00:55 And that worked for a while.

00:57 Until it didn't.

00:59 Until the beauty of my body started to entice customers

01:02 that I did not want in my store.

01:05 And so I started to backpedal,

01:07 to become small and afraid and to dim my too muchness.

01:11 Well, I trained as a dancer and slowly came back

01:15 to loving my body again, to feeling strong in my skin

01:19 and confident in my stride.

01:21 And at a crisp fall day in grade nine,

01:23 I was surrounded by 20 older girls

01:26 who pinned my arms behind my back,

01:29 kicking, punching, spitting, scratching,

01:32 punishing me for my too muchness and my love of my body.

01:35 And as the blood dripped from my nose,

01:38 so did the light in my spirit.

01:39 And once again, realizing that I wasn't safe in this body,

01:44 I dimmed it down.

01:45 Well, fast forward, I'm a grown woman now,

01:49 smart, professional, delivering a keynote

01:52 to a sea of over 300 executive men in suits,

01:55 deciding this would be my defining moment.

01:59 Once and for all, I was gonna be seen,

02:01 not for my body, but for my art,

02:04 for my craft, for what I brought to the table.

02:06 So I manned up, severe pantsuit, button to the top,

02:11 breasts hidden, hair slicked back into a severe bun.

02:16 I even bought me some fake glasses.

02:18 I dimmed down all the juiciness of my too much body.

02:22 And yeah, I knocked that baby right out of the park

02:25 and I flew off the stage to a standing ovation,

02:28 thinking I had finally won the battle

02:30 by dimming this body down.

02:32 And there I was, strolling along in my self-celebration

02:36 when I was approached from a man from the audience

02:38 who asked if he could walk me to my car.

02:41 And out in the parking lot, he grabbed my arm.

02:44 His nails were like talons digging into my skin.

02:50 And he pulled me close, very close, too close,

02:55 so close that I could smell the stale coffee

02:59 and misogyny on his breath as he hissed,

03:02 "I have a fetish for librarian types."

03:05 (audience laughing)

03:06 Say what?

03:07 All I remember is driving fast,

03:11 driving on the highway and watching my whole life

03:14 fly past in front of me and ricochet off the windowsill,

03:17 the shaming, the hiding, the dumbing down, the shunning,

03:21 letting my hair blow wild and the tears flow free

03:24 and deciding I would no longer deny the love of my body.

03:28 From now on, I would dare to be seen

03:30 in my all that juicy, over-the-top-ness.

03:33 (audience cheering)

03:34 You know, people carelessly say, "Love your body,"

03:39 but what they don't say is, "Baby, it's a dangerous game."

03:42 People are gonna shun you, objectify you.

03:46 They're gonna ignore you.

03:48 They're gonna be afraid of you.

03:49 And I say, "Yes, baby, all that yes, but guess what?

03:54 "Do it anyway."

03:55 You know, the church says this body is a sin.

03:58 Science says this body is a machine.

04:02 Business says this body is a product,

04:04 but this body says I'm a freaking fiesta.

04:07 (audience cheering)

04:08 So to all the too-much women in the audience,

04:11 I want you to stand up, stand up and be seen in your glory.

04:16 (audience cheering)

04:17 We are not a piece of human.

04:20 We are not flesh and ass and temptation.

04:22 We are feminine energy with masculine force.

04:26 We are sexy brilliance and we are hot determination.

04:29 We are bigger than our breasts

04:30 and more powerful than our thighs.

04:32 And our curve is mightier than any sword

04:35 and our wit stronger than any insult.

04:38 We are not here to radiate, to taunt you,

04:41 to provoke you, to threaten you.

04:43 We shine not for your adoration.

04:46 We shine because baby, you just can't dim the sun.

04:49 (audience cheering)

04:52 (upbeat music)

04:55 (audience cheering)

04:58 (upbeat music)

05:00 (upbeat music)

05:03 you

How to Embrace Your Body | Gina Hatzis

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