It's #FaceEqualityWeek, one of the rare occasions I share a selfie. Like everyone with a visible difference, people with a facial difference experience judgment, ridicule, and exclusion.
Even if we aren't ashamed of how we look (we shouldn't), it hurts to be excluded or judged by our looks.
Even if we aren't ashamed of how we look (we shouldn't), it hurts to be excluded or judged by our looks.
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In my case, a lot of scar tissue that some days hurts more than others, but is always limiting mobility.
I also dealt with decades of bad teeth, but those are now cyborg bits I can take out when annoying.
For me, facial gestures are less accurately detected because my features are not symmetrical.
I recently turned off the Face ID on my laptop as it often needed me to adjust my position so it recognized me.
But how others see my face sometimes makes me wish it was something more easily hidden. And sometimes, not helped by being autistic, it's easiest to hide completely.
People with facial differences deserve better.
We deserve not to be the villains and monsters in media, or the pity party or inspiration porn for social media clout.
We are just people, looking a bit different, looking for the same things as everyone else.