This New Jersey Art Teacher Went Viral Over Her Curvy Body (2023)

Introduction

Roxsana Diaz is preschool art teacher who went viral after wearing what many deemed as inappropriate form-fitting clothes in the classroom. She sits down with Tamron to talk about her response to critics and more in our episode titled, “Why I Went Viral.”

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Video

Known as miss a by my students flight, teach elementary school I became an art teacher because I really feel as though I have a purpose that's more than just teaching them about art, it's being present being aware and being a part of their growth.

The day my viral photo was taken I thought, absolutely nothing about it.

I thought, I looked nice.

Never thought.

It was gonna go viral.

The response I received from the photo was so overwhelmingly amazing.

Then the media turned it into something awkward.

Oh, you don't belong in a classroom.

People like you shouldn't teach, you should be a nightlife.

You should be doing porn and I was like, oh, these people are serious.

They really want me to not have a job.

It felt really really really bad speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview.

Since that photo went viral.

Please.

Welcome Roxanna to our show.

Thank you for trusting me.

I know, people have been reaching out to you.

Yes, they have I first saw it over the summer in a tabloid I came up in my social media feed the teacher that should be expelled.

I think was one of the headlines it was posted about a year ago.

It started going viral long after this that's.

The point I was making the picture was taken it set on, you know, somebody's Facebook page.

And then all of a sudden it's out there for the world to judge you.

How did you first learn that it was being shared everywhere? Um.

Well, people were tagging me, that's, that's, how I saw it at the first time that I saw it I thought, honestly, I thought, it was funny I thought.

It was comical, you know how people steal your pictures and they create a meme out of it.

So I took it that way in the beginning I'm like, oh, that's, hilarious, haha, who would try to get rid of me, that's dumb, but it was funny at first, but it was kind of like tumbawina kept going and going and going and growing into something else in the beginning when people were or tagging me on these things.

There was a lot of positive I'm, thinking, I'm doing something as far as like, yeah, I look.

Great.

Let me show curvy women how to dress appropriately.

And this is body, positivity you're, a teacher, you're, a professional you're doing love.

And this is body positivity, yes, but and then, but then you started to get the vicious comments, it kept tumbling and tumbling and tumbling and I think that the picture went so viral in the beginning that people people people not me.

People wanted to keep it going to keep getting whatever likes whatever comments, whatever they were getting on their Pages.

How is this impacting the life at school? Because obviously kids are on social media, their parents are on social media.

When did it start to become a concern for those around? It became a concern when the tabloids turned everything into something ugly versus look at this curvaceous, beautiful teacher, look how she can dress being turned into.

She should not be a teacher.

She should be a stripper.

She should be your bartender.

She should be a porn star did the principal or School administrators ever come to you not in the beginning.

But later on, yes, when it turned ugly, what did your supervisors or the principals say to you? Um, the thing is that the problem with the media is I dress, inappropriate, I do not I wouldn't have the job for as many years as I've had it I volunteered for seven years at that school before even accepting the teaching position, a lot of people talk, the talk you're volunteering, then you actually become a teacher, yes.

And then it turns into this it's so scary to see that that the social media and the world can really feed you anything.

They want to feed you like it.

Doesn't matter the parent who took the photo that set off this viral conversation will join us.

We'll be right back I work at my job.

What do I look like arguing with people about my physical parents? It is so scary and mind-boggling to me that this is really a thing.

You know and I'm, not gonna lie at first I thought it was so funny I did I was like reposting, everything and I'm like it's kind of not funny today, we're talking to people behind some viral videos that are being shared right now likely on your social media feeds and between friends and family that was Roxanna she's.

An art teacher from New Jersey, who made headlines after a photo of her went viral and ignited a firestorm of people saying that she should not be in the classroom with children dressed the way she was dressed Roxanna.

Did the kids I know, they're young, but they all, you know, kind of hear and see things did any of the children ever come up to you and ask you about it.

Yes? What did they ask I have, um, two of my girls.

Two little girls run to me almost in tears and hugged me they were like.

We thought you were fired I'm like sweetie don't, who told you that I'm like my mom saw it and I'm like okay, no sweetie.

I'm, right here.

Don't worry about it.

Go.

Go.

Go go because I don't want to talk about it with my children and then I have another little boy who comes in every single class and says, miss a are you rich yet and I'm like no sweetie, not not yet don't work like that soon soon, well, I wouldn't bring into the conversation via Skype, Jolie, aren't, she's, the parent, who took the photo that went viral, um, Joliet.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Julia when you took the picture, why did you take the picture? Honestly it was just like an innocent thing.

It wasn't, you know to expose or make something bigger than what it was.

It was just like.

Okay, I'm a parent I'm in the bathroom I, see all this good going on, you know, my kids love it here.

So it was just one of those things you posted it, because you felt she was doing a good job with the kids when you learned.

No one was seeing the kids in that photo.

They saw her and was attacking her.

Did you feel bad? Yeah, I'm.

One of the parents that hop on and started like defending her goodness.

You know doing what I felt like it was right like for them to like, not bash her because of her body and like appreciate her, because of the job that she is doing with the kids.

Yeah, you know, you mentioned Roxanna.

This got attention all over the world, um, hip-hop artist, Fat, Joe, who's coming on our show soon to talk about his Memoir.

He was one of the people who sent love and support here's.

What he said, take a look in New Jersey.

They got a system school teacher.

They trying to fire her, because she too sexy there's a teacher out there in Jersey.

That is a special a special.

One I say, let the women be great.

So I mean, all of those pictures can't be scrubbed, it's there forever as they say it lives on the internet forever.

How have you been able to move forward? Oh so in the beginning, oh and I want to say, really quick the photograph that she took is of the entire classroom right? It is not only of me, but it has been crowned over and over and over and over again, to the point that it's like, oh, she has her bum in this child's face.

It is an entire classroom.

So so how do you move forward? Now? Ah, so yeah, that's one that's, definitely that's exactly I know, one thing you're doing you're, an artist yourself, and you have created an adorable digital coloring, yeah, it's called Little Buddy meets the art teacher.

So you've turned your pain into something that can heal and teach.

And so this is your passion.

Little buddy, meets the art teacher.

Yeah.

So I had made little buddy.

Little buddy is a tool that I use with specifically Pre-K first.

And second grade, little buddy is that's little buddy with the hoodie.

So these are the characters that I've been using for years with my children I had puppets.

They they were lost.

Now I, don't know, what happened to my puppets, but I use them with the kids.

So they can express themselves and it's something that I use as a tool because art is not only drawing and coloring and cutting and pasting art is a tool use for therapy and healing and growth.

I know that you've been through a lot and I hope that you continue to heal.

No one should be subjected to what you had to endure and let's face.

It it's not going anywhere, but you got a bunch of fans out there all around the world.

Thank you so much.

Thank you jolia and Roxanna.

And you can order roxanna's coloring book online.