WEBVTT

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DON'T LIMIT PEOPLE

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Since I was a kid at school there were
sport activities for all students.

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We were taught to do
abs, aerobics ...

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... so that we were always
in good shape, in good health.

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We were playing basketball,
football and volleyball.

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I spent thirteen years like this,
and I always liked it.

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When I workout
I feel good in my body.

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After high school, I left my hometown of Gonaïves,
to go to University in Port-au-Prince.

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In the neighborhood where I went to live there were
many possibilities to continue practice sports.

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This is how I and a group of male friends,
we decided to join a gym.

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There I started to practice weightlifting.

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It was a way for me to overcome my limits
to boost myself and to strengthen my body.

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The more I muscled, the more the way
people saw me was changing.

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For them, a woman should not
practice weightlifting.

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The men had sexist and
very out of place words towards me.

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The women were getting away from me,
because of rumors about my sexual orientation.

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I was perceived as a lesbian
because I do weightlifting.

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Faced with all this discrimination,
I stopped sport for a long time

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Against my will.

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During this period I felt a void in me,
as if I was no longer myself.

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I had to join another club,
to feel more comfortable.

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But the situation was not very
different from the previous club.

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On my parents' side, my mother always considered
that I sacrificed my femininity.

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She's afraid of me being called a tomboy.
She treats me differently from my sisters.

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For my boyfriend’s family,
I was not the ideal woman

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They often made fun of him.

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They asked him what it feels like
to be with such a muscular girl.

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This kind of question created doubts,
he even came to question our relationship.

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On social networks they comment
my muscular body to make fun of me.

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Once, someone commented
saying this girl is a beefy guy.

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Another comment was to ask me
if I intend to beat up men

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Or if I have a boyfriend, if he's afraid of me.

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I'm at a point
where I wonder.

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I wonder if I should live
according to what pleases society

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Or live the life I like.

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Because I am a woman, should I
limit myself because of what people think of me?

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Does practicing bodybuilding
means that I'm less of a woman?

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Why so many people
in our society...

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... can't accept that everyone
is different in their life's choices?