#exotropia

[ID: various screenshots from the wonderfully weird world of gumball. the first has characters with phones in their hands and zombie-like expressions, all with exotropia. the second image shows gumball and darwin dazed from cologne fumes. gumball's left eye notably is exotropic. third image is richard with wall eyed and bloodshot eyes. end ID.]

i've been really excited to watch the new season of gumball but i'm just constantly thrown off by how the artists constantly make fun of strabismus, mostly exotropia (eyes point outward)

i don't get why visible disabilities (or disability in general TBH) are still an acceptable target for jokes in media. real people look like this. why are we making fun of that???

having strabismus doesn't make you silly, disgusting, loopy, or "stupid". it's a real disability and i'm sick of seeing artists using it as a quick and easy visual shorthand :(

strabismus isn't even the only target! someone who has crooked/yellow teeth is untrustworthy. someone who drools is "dumb" and childlike. someone with trouble balancing is drunk/confused/has brain damage. someone who god forbid has facial scars is a villain and wants to kill everyone!!!

[ID: a CGI Minecraft sheep. it has exotropia and is making a funny face]

my eyes are not a joke. my eyes are not "derpy" they aren't funny. real people's eyes look like this. my eyes look like this. it's upsetting to have a movie make a joke out of your eyes and more upsetting to see everyone else not only follow along but amplify it.

yes, the Minecraft movie CGI is unsettling. it is bad but the problem with the sheep is everything except the way its eyes look. real. people. have. eyes. like. that. I cannot emphasize enough that real people have eyes like that. I promise you are capable of criticizing the Minecraft movie's appearance without mocking exotropia.

Exotropia + estropia/endotropia pride/awareness flags!

I found out what exotropia is recently and… well….

So I made an awareness flag for me and others who experience this! I also made an endotropia flag too!

Strabismus Pride Flag

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. Types include esotropia, where the eyes are crossed, exotropia, where the eyes diverge and hypertropia or hypotropia where they are vertically misaligned.

Flag signification:

Light cyan: diversity and types of strabismus

Grey/black: fighting against ableism

Cyan background: community and pride