Updated:December 13, 2021, 10:45 A.M.
Toronto, Ontario
” as a fat, Filipino woman, I know how rare it is to see someone who looks like me on TV….”
By Charmaine Janis Rodriguez
The world still thinks fat people are ugly, lazy, and disgusting, it is important to me that I show up looking fine as fuck to show that, nope, that’s not true. – Ann Pornel
For the highly rated The Great Canadian Baking Show which ended a week ago, it was a memorable season for Filipino-Canadians. For one, graphic artist Vincent Chan romped away with the championship trophy but another Filipino, co-host Ann Pornel also captured the limelight with her stunning ‘terno’.
Ann, whose unique perspectives on diversity, body image and inclusion have garnered her spots at NBC’s Break Out Comedy Festival and JFL 42, got to wear traditional Filipino terno and barong to the famous Canadian TV series that is streamed in 23 countries including the United States, Australia, France and Ireland.
Celebrity stylist Vanessa Magic dressed Ann with three creations of VINTA Gallery, a ready-to-wear modern Filipiniana and accessories business owned by Caroline Mangosing, who lives in Toronto, Canada, and Estelita Lagman, who lives and works in Manila as VINTA Gallery’s master couturier.
Ann said she was never able to wear any traditional Filipiniana because of her body size so she always had limited choices. She was so thankful to Vanessa for making it happen.
“I don’t need to tell you how successful she was. Check the receipts, mama: Vanessa understood the assignment. I have never in my life felt more special, glamorous and beautiful than when I put on all the different outfits Vanessa curated over the two seasons of the show. In fact, I full-on cried when I “unboxed” three of the outfits she had picked for this latest season. They were from VINTA Gallery, a Filipino-Canadian designer, and all were modernized versions of traditional Filipino garments: two different dresses, both with the classic terno sleeve, and a hand-embroidered barong,” Ann said of the experience.
She also used it to promote body positivity and to highlight that in an industry where beauty standards are limited to a certain body type, perceptions are changing and she enjoyed every moment of it.
“Ann, this is a baking show. Who cares how you’re dressed? It’s all about the baking,” says my inner saboteur and probably a few other folks. Well, I care. I care because as a fat, Filipino woman, I know how rare it is to see someone who looks like me on television. Fat women are often the mothers, the caretakers, or the comedic relief as the skinny heroine’s best friend. We rarely get to be seen as the object of desire; the pretty one. For the first time maybe ever in my life, in the tent, I get to be one of the pretty ones. I’m eye candy,” she said in an interview with cbc.ca.
Ann said was grateful to GCBS for giving her the opportunity to work with Vanessa and for helping send a message of acceptance for all body types.
“Now you might think that’s incredibly shallow, or worse, like I’m objectifying myself by reducing what I do to being a walking, talking doll. But as someone who has never fit into the North American standards of beauty, or even most of the Asian standards of beauty, to have the opportunity to just look like an absolute snack is meaningful. Because it’s not like my physical appearance has changed: I’m still fat, I’m still tanned, I’ve still got a little nose, and I still have little eyes that disappear when I smile too big. I’m still all of those things that were never deemed to be “beautiful,” but here I am, getting to wear amazing outfits on national television. The Great Canadian Baking Show has not only given me the gift of being part of an iconic franchise, but it’s also given me the opportunity to work with stylist/artist/general superhero Vanessa Magic, who is every bit as special as her name would suggest,” she added.
Via Reyes
The GCBS producer, CBC, also earlier featured another Filipino-Canadian on body positivity through CBC radio, Via Reyes, who lives on Prince Edward Island. Reyes works as a part-time photographer and creates social media campaigns for local tourism and was featured to help promote a message about accepting your own body weight.
Via said her relationship with her body hasn’t been an easy one but she’s in a much better place than even a couple of years ago.
Via “grew up in the Philippines, where ads for skin-whitening and hair-straightening products were common. Her higher weight put her body on display, she said, with both family and strangers feeling free to comment on her looks. She remembers feeling desperate to lose weight. ‘I was 11 years old, on the internet, looking up ‘How to be anorexic,’” she said,” the article quoted her as saying.
The lockdown during the pandemic, she added, amplified those struggles when social media users with “perfect” bodies made her feel that she could not do anything about her weight gain.
But Via decided to visit the beach during a partial lifting of the lockdown. With pictures taken by her husband, Via just enjoyed herself and her surroundings. This became a life-changing experience for her.
“Body positivity, to me, means believing that our bodies, no matter how they look, are all deserving of the same respect. I would say it’s a radical sort of acceptance.”
Via is now taking strides toward self-healing.
“Now there are moments where I can actually love my body, embrace it and feel good in the body that I have. But then there are also times where I feel grief; it’s not always love and acceptance. But I remind myself that I am worthy, no matter what I look like,” she added.