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Izzo Julio

Batty English 101

27 May 2018

The Cure for Lack of Self-Esteem is Self-Acceptance

Alex Espinoza's, Still Water Saints is a series of characters that find a way into Perla's

life, who is the owner of a Botanica Oshun, located in the outskirts of Los Angeles in a Latino

majority town called Agua Mansa. She has served the town for years offering spiritual healings

such as candles, prayers and charms. More than anything though, she offers guidance through

her mechanisms to help with these people's crises whatever their case may be. A few of her

customers include people dealing with death of a loved one, current addicts just looking for

peace and kids with disturbing, troubling past experiences.

One of the characters that comes across the Botanica and whom I found intriguing was

Rosa, who is an overweight teenager trying to lose weight and find herself. Rosa falls victim to

low self-esteem and low confidence, and after analyzing Rosa and why she was depicted the way

she was- people would argue that being a young teenager, maybe she couldn't find herself

because she's overweight or that it's an unhealthy lifestyle to be overweight at that age to begin

with. But the bigger picture Alex Espinoza makes, is that it's more about having self-acceptance

and being happy with yourself, how you shouldn’t worry about what people think, and that there

is more in life to appreciate. All in all, the only thing that matters is that you love yourself and

are happy with who you are, because a positive mind is a healthy mind and the rest will follow

behind.
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In Still Water Saints, Rosa seeks help from Perla to help her deal with her obesity. It's

really her mother that implements these actions of intense workout video tapes and skipping

meals for teas that are sold by Perla at her Botanica since it seemed to work for her. I like that

her sister Blanca tries give Rosa motivation and help her to be more confident with herself, but

Rosa is just negative and unmotivated towards herself with quotes in response like, "But it's hard

to be confident when you weigh as much as I do. When even breathing is hard." (Espinoza. 13,

Release: Still Water Saints) It just shows the lack of motivation Rosa has on herself, even though

she is unhappy with how she looks, this tells me she can't even try to help herself because it hurts

too much.

Although it is understandable to be upset about being overweight, it is important to see

that society doesn’t make up what is beautiful and what is not. Much of that is mental perception

and not enough appreciation to one's self. And not being happy with how you look will never

change if you constantly have that negative mindset. You will never be where you want to be and

that will ultimately damage your body mentally and physically. "Individuals who have a body

image that might be considered unhealthy may subject themselves to intense internal scrutiny

and become fixated on perceived physical imperfections. They may have unrealistic goals

regarding weight and size and may, in pursuit of these goals, take actions that might be

considered extreme by some. These actions often include overeating, over-exercising, starving

oneself, binge eating, and purging (Goodtherapy.org)". So, this means that the fact we chase

perfections unattainable, it is a major health risk to minor signs you may not even notice because

of something like society telling you what is hot and what's not.

Moreover, Rosa finds herself starving herself in substitute of eating and over exercising.

"I drink the tea twice- once in the morning in place of breakfast and again in the afternoon".
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(Espinoza. 15, Release.) Her mother knows she dislikes this, and when asked about why she

hasn’t just taken her to a doctor, her mother's response was, "Doctors don't know anything about

this" (Espinoza. 15, Release.). I don’t know about you, but last time I heard, breakfast was the

most important meal of the day. Along with that, she is over-exercising, "I turn the tv off and sit

on the couch, breathing so hard and heavy my chest hurts. I can't even think about getting back

up now" (Espinoza. 18, Release.) With actions like that and skipping meals, that is not good for

the body. "In order to burn calories, you must consume them first. And if one is exercising at an

extreme rate and not eating, that can lead to headaches, fainting and possibly death

(Livestrong.com)". As much as Rosa wants to lose weight and be healthy, there are other factors

that bring risks to your health like over-exercising in her case.

Furthermore, someone dealing with weight issues are often very sensitive to words or

actions towards their weight. So when 'helping' somebody deal with weight issues, it is very

important to be careful with certain words you use and how you interpret them. "Obese

individuals are highly stigmatized and face multiple forms of prejudice and discrimination

because of their weight. Weight bias translates into inequities in employment settings, health‐

care facilities, and educational institutions, often due to widespread negative stereotypes that

overweight and obese persons are lazy, unmotivated, lacking in self‐ discipline, less competent,

noncompliant, and sloppy (Wiley Online Library)". This just shows how often they are harassed,

and things they deal with on a daily. Obesity is a major issue, especially in the United States.

All the little things can add up to help or hurt someone dealing with Obesity, so it is

important to use your words wisely. As some may think to 'understand', it's until you deal with

the scrutiny in an everyday circumstance that you can relate to this case. Although Rosa's mother

just wants the best for her daughter and is just trying to help her achieve weight loss like she
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once did, Rosa reflects on her mom going on rants about, "self-perception and men not wanting

to date fat women" (Espinoza. 14, Release.), like if that’s what she needs to hear.

First of all, that’s a false statement. Second, nowhere in those words do they spill any

guidance or motivation whatsoever, especially coming from a possible role model like her

mother. "Adolescents and young adults are subject to pressure from their environment, including

parents, colleagues, and especially mass media, in order to meet appearance standards in relation

to body image. This pressure favors dissatisfaction with self-body image and thus can promote

risky health activities, such as development of disordered eating, depression, and anxiety, all of

which can continue to develop throughout adulthood (Bioethics.edu)."

Furthermore, even when Miguel shows interest in Rosa by teaching her Cumbia which is

a Spanish dancing style, her mom implies that he is just using her when she replies with, "Men

like him are always up to something, you better watch it." (Espinoza. 27, Release). Just because

he is on parole he falls under a specific category, and Rosa responds, "Just because I'm fat a guy

can't like me, right? A guy like him can't find me attractive?" (Espinoza. 27, Release). With that

being said, you shouldn't care what people think because in the end, you’re only here to please

yourself, not others.

While the perception of words can have impact, understanding that there is more to life

when dealing with personal issues, that even though you are dealing with a crisis, there is

someone out there probably in a worse situation than you. In a sense, it's better to be optimistic

and look at life slightly different than normally. I take this from Miguel when he is talking to

Rosa and all she can complain about is how she is fat, and he says, "So what, you have plenty to

feel good about" as he continues to tell her about the family she has, and that it's more than he is
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ever had, how someone would love to have a family. That opens eyes and hopefully some self-

realization on how to look at life.

A lot of the time, people try to fall under the "standard" of beauty and how society relays

it. We are all different and unique in our own way, and to diminish that and try to alter our

bodies, overwork ourselves to reach an unattainable goal is self-destruction on who we are as

people. Not only that, can be unhealthy to your mind and body. In Still Water Saints, Alex

Espinoza helps us look at life a little differently, through Rosa's obesity and low self-esteem

crisis, we learn that you should, above all, love yourself and find self-acceptance no matter the

case. Alex also opened me up to realistic views of what it is of real importance and how there is

much more in life than just you, how you should find the beauty in everything, and be optimistic

when you can. The key to a happy, healthy life is to first accept who you are. All in all, I believe

wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.

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Works Cited

-Espinoza, Alex. Release, Still Water Saints. New York, 2007.

Random House Trade Paperbacks, Novel. New York, 2007.

-Puhl, Rebecca. Heuer, Chelsea. Wiley Online Library. September 2012.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2008.636

-Nuland, Sherwin. Kanouzi, Jack. Yale University Bioethics. Self-Esteem in the hands of

Society.

https://bioethics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/SELF%20ESTEEM%20IN%20THE%20HAND

S%20OF%20SOCIETY-1.pdf

-Katz, Shirley. Phd. Body Image: Good Therapy. August 2017.

https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/body-image

-Live Strong.com. Calorie Intake. July 2017.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/451656-calories-eaten-versus-calories-burned/