The Sunday News
Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
WITH a signature look of head wraps, tattoos and either purple or red lipstick, radio personality Patience Phiri is probably Bulawayo’s favourite (and possibly most exciting) 35-year-old. Unlike the conventional birthday party, Phiri opted for a daring and provocative photo shoot for her birthday and as usual her pictures caused a stir on social media. Sunday Life managed to talk to the multi-talented Phiri on her views on growing up and self-appreciation.
Sunday Life (SL): How are you able to be so comfortable with and in your body?
Patience Phiri (PP): I am comfortable because I realised at some point that this is the only body I will ever have and it is beautiful. I have learnt that it’s not about what everybody thinks. Sadly, although I am in a part of the world where we (fuller women) should be very normal, this isn’t the case and if no one will appreciate me then I will.
SL: As a woman of a certain body type and you rightfully identify as a plus size model, what would you say to people who have a problem with you showing as much skin as you do?
PP: It’s basically people who do not have the confidence to do what I do and eventually, hopefully that confidence will come to them too. None of what I do is about them. I am a proud size 16 and I’m confident and healthy. I’m just trying to show that you don’t have to be a size zero to be beautiful. Very often I’m told, I’m a size 16, I’m a mother, I have stretch marks, what business do I have showing a thigh? But my business is self love and that’s what I’m preaching. We shouldn’t be forced to cover up because we are of a certain size. I want to see darker-skinned, bigger women making it on to magazine covers and billboards.
SL: Are you currently seeing anyone?
PP: (Giggles) Uhmm . . . there is a gentleman that I like a lot.
SL: That being said, how does he feel about you getting so much attention for the way you look?
PP: I like to think that he is comfortable and secure in the relationship. He actually encourages me to do what I do.
SL: You seem to have the spirit of someone who is way younger than you are, how do you manage to stay so youthful?
PP: I have a teenage son so he tells me what’s cool or what’s not, and most times I seem to fall short (giggles). Also I have youthful friends, I have friends that are generally happy people and that rubs off me and it tends to come off as youthfulness. I am just happy about life.
SL: You’re 35 now, what would you tell your 20-year-old self that you know now which you wish you knew then?
PP: Twenty-year-old Patience should have appreciated sleep more. She should have known to do better at relationships and I would have wanted her to know much heartbreak sucks. She should have taken up more opportunities, saved more money and travelled more.
SL: You are at the age where people start asking you about marriage, what’s your take on marriage?
PP: It will happen when it happens. I am not really a strong believer in the institution of marriage. I believe when you find someone and if it works, it works, that piece of napped shouldn’t define anything. I will get married however, when I find a man who is willing to take my surname and have Phiri babies. Marriage is not really top of my list right now. If I am to get married, I will do it very late in life because right now I am enjoying the way things are.
SL: You turned 35 and dropped the head wrap, what was that about?
PP: I did not really drop it. I had done my hair, and my hairdresser asked me to show off his skills for once. And for two weeks the head wrap came off, that is the longest time I have spent without it since I started wearing head wraps. But it’s back on now. I adopted the headwrap because I am not my hair, there is this tendency to think certain things of people because of the way they wear their hair. Also, as African women we have lost so much of ourselves to changing trends but this is the one thing I am keeping to stay in touch with my African self.
SL: What advice would you give to your peers so that in spite of their jobs and responsibilities, they are still able to live full lives?
PP: This is what I live by; I want to die with a smile on my face and I want people to be able to say that I lived. End of the day, your life is about you, so having children and husbands and jobs shouldn’t take away from who you are. Take care of you first then you can be a better person to the other people in your life. Live for the moment and have no regrets.
Phiri is presently working on putting together Naked Girls Reading 2 and is making plans to bring it to Bulawayo. Catch Phiri on the Hangout on Skyz Metro FM.
@nkocykay
