FIVE months ago, Asanda Mataku’s confidence was at an all-time low.
The grade 10 pupil from Zola High School in Khayelitsha said she was constantly judged for her weight.
Asanda (17) told US she tried to enter several beauty pageants but was rejected every time.
That’s when she started a WhatsApp and Facebook group called Thick Munchies for plus size women.
She said the group is a platform for plus size women to come together and confront their fears.
“I have been rejected and embarrassed several times. In some instance people would even laugh at me openly whenever I told them I wanted to be a model.”
She said she’s been told her body is not ideal for modelling.
Instead of listening to people who told her to find a new hobby, Asanda decided to create the group to share her experiences with others.
“I started the group to voice my displeasure about how people treat thick women. I was shocked to learn that there were several other women who faced the same problems,” she said.
She said Thick Munchies has grown a lot since it was started four months ago.
She said she started with five followers but now has 20 members who are now calling on others to join.
“I nearly lost my confidence and that could have destroyed me, but instead I picked myself up.”
She said the group aims to change some of the negative stereotypes that people have about fat people.
“People think we’re lazy, stupid and have low self-esteem,” she said.
Asanda said she wants to teach young people how to model, dance and act.
“We want to change this notion that fat people can’t be models,” she said
“This thing of having to be slender to be a model sends the wrong message to the community and makes many people, especially the youth, to hate their bodies.”
Asanda said she looks forward to the group becoming an organisation some day that would empower plus size women across Mzansi.
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