{"id":89862,"date":"2024-12-12T15:21:56","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T08:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/levanews.com\/?p=44986"},"modified":"2024-12-12T15:22:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T08:22:07","slug":"woman-told-shes-too-ugly-for-selfies-hits-back-at-online-trolls-in-perfect-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/woman-told-shes-too-ugly-for-selfies-hits-back-at-online-trolls-in-perfect-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman told she\u2019s \u2018too ugly\u2019 for selfies hits back at online trolls in perfect way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>The world can often be an unkind and unforgiving place.\n<p><strong><em>Despite being taught not to judge a book by its cover and that true beauty lies beyond appearances, many still fall victim to cruel bullying solely based on how they look.\n<p>Journalist and writer Melissa Blake knows this harsh reality all too well. Her essays on disability, relationships, and pop culture have enlightened and inspired people worldwide, yet she continues to face insults from bullies targeting her appearance.\n</p><p>At 38, Melissa has endured being compared to a \u201cblobfish\u201d and a \u201cpotato with a face.\u201d But she wasn\u2019t about to let the haters have the last word.\n</p><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' wp-image-44987 aligncenter src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/12%5C/469655038_878874794401475_7269477700675706507_n.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"936\"' height='\"1304\"' title='\"\"'>\n</p><h3>Melissa Blake and Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome\n</h3><p>Melissa was born with Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, a rare genetic condition caused by a mutation that affects the way substances are transferred between cells during development. Over her life, she\u2019s undergone around 25 surgeries and uses a wheelchair for mobility.\n</p><p>One common characteristic of Freeman-Sheldon syndrome is a distinct facial appearance, often including a smaller, pursed mouth and reduced nasal cartilage.\n</p><p>For Melissa, these differences from societal \u201cnorms\u201d have made her a target for online abuse. On September 8, she took to Twitter to address the vile comments she\u2019s received. Some trolls compared her to a \u201cblobfish,\u201d while others called her a \u201cpotato.\u201d\n</p><p>&nbsp;\n</p><blockquote class='\"twitter-tweet\"'>\n<p dir='\"ltr\"' lang='\"en\"'>During the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I\u2019m too ugly. So I\u2019d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies&hellip; \ud83d\udcf8\ud83d\ude09\ud83d\udc4b\ud83c\udffb <a href="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/t.co%5C/9ZuSYFOtwv%5C%22" target='\"_blank\"'>pic.twitter.com\/9ZuSYFOtwv\n<p>\u2014 Melissa Blake (@melissablake) <a href="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/twitter.com%5C/melissablake%5C/status%5C/1170481393673166849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%5C%22" target='\"_blank\"' rel='\"noopener\"'>September 7, 2019\n<h3>Facing the Abuse Head-On\n</h3><p>One particularly cruel commenter even suggested she should be banned from social media because she\u2019s \u201ctoo ugly.\u201d\n</p><p>\u201cPeople wonder why I\u2019ve struggled so much with self-acceptance when it comes to how I look and society\u2019s notion of what \u2018beautiful\u2019 is. It\u2019s because of comments like these \u2014 comments that dismiss me and deem me unworthy,\u201d Melissa shared.\n</p><p>\u201c[\u2026] This is just one more example of the ableism that people with disabilities face every day, and it\u2019s something I\u2019m constantly trying to change.\u201d\n</p><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' wp-image-44988 aligncenter src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/12%5C/470146360_878874797734808_6123403189082906817_n.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"872\"' height='\"1138\"' title='\"\"'>\n</p><p>But Melissa didn\u2019t let her tormentors bring her down. Instead, she delivered the perfect clapback to those demanding she stop sharing pictures of herself: she shared even more.\n</p><p>\u201cDuring the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I\u2019m too ugly. So I\u2019d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies\u2026\u201d\n</p><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' wp-image-44989 aligncenter src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/12%5C/469940446_878874787734809_6762251660834870896_n.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"876\"' height='\"978\"' title='\"\"'>\n</p><h3>An Inspiring Response\n</h3><p>Melissa\u2019s tweet had exactly the impact she intended. It has since garnered over 272,000 likes on Twitter, with fans praising her bravery and unwavering confidence.\n</p><p>Moreover, her work has gained even more recognition. The trolls who aimed to belittle her have failed spectacularly.\n</p><p>Bullying has no place in today\u2019s society, and it\u2019s infuriating to think of the cowards hiding behind their screens, tormenting others to mask their own insecurities.\n</p><p>&nbsp;\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"</p><p>The world can often be an unkind and unforgiving place. Despite being taught not to judge a book by its cover and that true beauty lies beyond appearances, many still fall victim to cruel bullying solely based on how they look. Journalist and writer Melissa Blake knows this harsh reality all too well. Her essays &hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":89863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perspectives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89862"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89867,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89862\/revisions\/89867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</p></a></p></a></p></blockquote></em></strong></p></em></strong></p>