#facial difference

[ID in alt]

Tutorial on drawing characters/OCs who have some sort of facial paralysis. It doesn't cover all possible variants because I was using mirror as my main reference lawl

Keep in mind that this is an introductory drawing tutorial and has some generalizations in it, so not every “X is Z” statement will be true for Actual People 👍

i am a little person. i am 4'0, i have ccd and achondroplasia. i have various other genetic conditions that affect me but i will be mentioning my identity as a little person mostly.

quit using little people as the butt of your jokes. no, you cant use the m slur it is a slur, no you cant call us gnomes or elves or dwarves or whatever the fuck you call us. we are real people, we arent little characters or creatures. we are LIVING BREATHING PEOPLE. quit treating us like kids or idiots. you dont have to baby us. quit making fun of little people's heights, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WITH DISPROPORTIONATE DWARFISM. you are fucking ableist if you make fun of little people, you dont see us as people you see us a joke. im sick and tired of people i love and care for treating me as if im a joke and making fun of my height. fuck off

i dont care if we "look funny" or "haha tiny" its so fucking annoying and disrespectful to be treated as if the body isnt a living, breathing, full grown adult.

If you aren't any one of those and your first thought is, "But sometimes it's upsetting/anxiety inducing/disturbing to look at." Then I think you might have to think beyond yourself (not in a shaming way, but as genuine introspective), or just not engage in the Internet.

Bodies that don't fit the non-scared body standard or that don't look "normal" to societal standard are still humans that do have normal bodies.

Imagine having scarring and already being self-concious and having people put "Trigger warning: body horror and scars." Like your body comes with a warning because it's so upsetting to look at and everyone should be warned before they show a person who looks like you.

This is especially true online and I think people need to understand when they may be becoming overly entitled.

Seeing a person with self-harm scars and the video is nothing about self-harm, but then commenting, "Please put a warning for your scars," When you are in complete control to scroll isn't okay.

On the internet, you can scroll, block, restrict, or do other things before you ever have to engage in content that upsets you and 2. Make others feel bad about something normal they have (yes, even if its upsetting or triggering for you, because that's their appearance and you can choose to engage in that content or not.)

If you want to live in the comfortability that everyone's bodies have to not be reminiscent of anything atypical or "upsetting" or that people always need to accomodate for something you should work on, then that's a society where disabled/different people/scarred/burned people can't exist and you're opting for that over facing your own discomfort or finding coping skills.

It's completely okay to be triggered by something, as it's tied to trauma (triggers aren't just things you find a bit uncomfortable or things you dislike; its related to trauma); you can't control that. It's okay to be uneasy, squeamish, or feel another type of uncomfortable feeling; you can't control that.

But it's never okay to make others feel bad about their body, tell them to hide, or make them suit your needs in a way that makes them live quieter and sadder.

Scroll, block, disengage, don't look, or don't stare.

[large text: How to Support People with Facial Differences - the Face Equality Week 2024 Special]

Today is the 13th of May, which means that the Face Equality Week has just started. This year's theme is “My Face is a Masterpiece” which is probably my favorite sentence ever said about having a facial difference. Huge fan, should be used way more often in my opinion.

Because of this occasion, I would like to share some thoughts about Face Equality that I think are rather entry-level, i.e. you don't need to know much to execute these, but you can still support us.

Stop the stare.

I know it's fun to stare - or so I guess, at least - but maybe you shouldn't. Next time you see someone who has a scar or who's face does not move the same way as yours, just mind your business. We can tell when you're “discreetly” looking.

Don't call us deformed. 

Knowing how the people you're trying to support actually call themselves should be an absolute first step, but most people still fail here. Most of us don't appreciate being called “deformed”. I certainly don't. Say “facial difference”, or “disfigurement” if you must. It's 2024. Leave “deformed” to medical reports from the 70s.

No more “What happened?!”s.

If you aren't a doctor, there's a high-to-100% chance that it's none of your business. It's cool that you're curious - keep it to yourself.

Stop insinuating that we are ugly.

“Support people who are ugly!” isn't very supportive. I would say, not in the slightest. Say “people who don't fit the current beauty standards” if that's what you mean. 

Or, to go with this year's theme, “people whose faces are masterpieces” : )

Use critical thinking online.

Is the reaction photo actually funny, or is it just a person with a craniofacial condition? Is the meme actually a meme, or is it just making fun of a person with a facial disfigurement? Is body-shaming suddenly hilarious to you when the person shamed has strabismus? 

If the entire punchline is “lol they have a disability xd”, it's ableism. Plain and simple.

To go with the point above - your joke is probably not funny.

We get it! You can't help telling us how "you're going to hell for laughing" (which yeah, probably) and how we remind you of the ugliest character you have ever seen. I guarantee you that we heard it, and that you are behaving like an edgy middle schooler who hasn't "found out" yet. It's boring and annoying. Also ableist, but you're aware of that already if you're saying that you're going to hell.

Stop with the goddamn trigger warnings. 

We aren't “body horror”, we aren't “gore”, we aren't something that you need to advise your viewers to use their discretion over. Every “graphic footage: child with neurofibromatosis” and “#tw burn scar” is a sign of ableism and disfiguremisia. People with facial differences deserve to be seen. Ableds can survive seeing a person without a nose.

Do a basic reading on what disfiguremisia is.

New word! And an important one. It's a brand of ableism that intersects with more or less everything, and it means discrimination and hatred of people with facial differences/disfigurements. The bullying, harassment, endless name-calling, and microaggressions are all results of disfiguremisia. The ways in which everything is harder for us isn't some unchangeable rule of how the world works, it's just an extremely prevalent type of discrimination.

Understand that we are people.

I know, revolutionary - and yet impossible for so many people to get. We can be a visual representation of evil when it's necessary, we can be a feel-good inspirational story on a morning talk-show, but not much else, it seems. In reality, we are complex, we have our own lives, we can be happy and sad and have the same exact joys and worries that you have.

Hey, artists - facial differences don't make you evil.

Title stolen from a great essay by Lise Deguire (link). When's the last time you saw a positive character with a facial difference that wasn't inspiration porn? I mean a character that's not edgy, full of angst, a murderer, or a villain. Based on what you see in the media, you'd think that having a scar renders you evil on the spot, but in reality it just makes you loathe how artists apparently think you are like. It's boring, it's overdone, it's ableism. Stop doing this, and start noticing when it's being done. Point it out if your friend is writing their new villain to be an evil burn survivor. This kind of portrayal needed to stop ages ago, but tomorrow will be a great time as well.

Before you reply with “I've never seen this” - Darth Vader, Lion King’s Scar (subtle name, great thing to teach kids!), Freddy Krueger, Voldemort, we could be here forever. You're just not paying attention.

Pay attention to where we are not included.

As discussed, there are some places where you see us all the time. But where do you not see us?

Advertisements (unless it's for a scar-removal cream, of course). Fashion shows. Magazine covers. Romance movies where we are the main character.

We deserve to see ourselves in what's around us in the same way able-bodied people do. Trying to make it seem like we don't exist - that's deliberate. 

Interact with our art.

We draw, write, sing, act in movies, we do everything. Support us in the most tangible way - leave us a nice comment, read our books, listen to our songs. Watch movies where actual people with facial differences star, not pseudoinspirational stories about how “being disfigured is ok” where they shove an able-bodied actor into a full face prosthetic just to not have an actor with a disfigurement on set.

Include us.

As this year's Face Equality Week calls for, include us. In art, in movies, in books, in your life. Show us as positive people who are valuable, who are a part of your community - I guarantee that we are in every one that's out there. The world is hostile and unwelcoming to people with facial differences - be the change, wherever you are.

I know that it is different from the usual posts I make, but I hope it was somewhat educational. I just like to use every occasion that I can to force Face Equality into people's heads. To make this at least a bit about writing to keep the blog's theme, I will say that if you want to write about us, you need to care about us in real life as well. Otherwise, it's pointless and, as representation, genuinely worthless.

Below the readmore are some links/resources that you can click to educate yourself further. A lot of them lead to Face Equality International because they have just about everything you should know. If you want to be a better ally to people with facial differences, I heavily recommend them.

#MyFaceIsAMasterpiece

mod Sasza

[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!!!

Self-harm scars.

Dermatillomania scars.

Acne scars.

Bald spots, whether it's on the head or eyelashes or wherever.

Failed body modifications.

While I'm at it, be normal about scars. All scars.

You would see someone who went through such pain and your reaction is disgust or condescend? Did you think that through?