Mélange Accessibility for All Magazine July 2021 | Page 96

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into the ideals of others was just a waste of my life . I didn ' t respect any of them , and couldn ' t justify putting any value to their opinions on my looks .
I just one day realised that I didn ' t care what anyone had to say about how I looked . Once that happened , it was the most amazing feeling in the world . It was true freedom .
Importance of having representation from people with disabilities and different body types in the media
When I was growing up , the common consensus was " thinner is better ". I literally started starving myself in first grade , and developing an eating disorder because everywhere I looked , I was told that the only way you could be beautiful is if you are thin . If there had been plus size models , and fat women being represented in a positive fashion well I was growing up , treated like actual people , and not like a cautionary tale , or something to be feared / pitied , then I might have been able to have had an actual childhood , and teen years .
So much of my life was wasted , thrown away , and ruined because of this lack of representation . I know that I didn ' t think I could be pretty , until I was in 5th grade and saw a Native American Barbie doll . Looking at its long black hair , tanned skin , dark brown eyes . . . it was the first time I saw a doll that looked like me . ( I was darker then than I am now ). I still thought I had to be thin , but the first time I thought I had at least a chance at being beautiful because of that doll .
Please , kindly donate to my surgery https :// linktr . ee / Lilithfury Thank you .