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trolls said she should be banned from posting pics of herself so she posted more
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/disability-melissa-blake-internet_n_5d8cd280e4b0019647a4b9d2“Melissa Blake should be banned from posting pictures of herself.”
Those were the words that greeted me one afternoon as I was scrolling the internet. It was just 10 words, left by a stranger in the comments of a YouTube video I was mentioned in, but they packed a powerful punch. I winced, but not as much as you might think.
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After I wrote a CNN op-ed last month suggesting that we should all unfollow Trump on Twitter, a conservative YouTuber mentioned me in one of his videos. The comments on his video were filled with people attacking my appearance. There was no thoughtful critique of what I wrote. No mention of the actual content of my op-ed. No, no, no. People just went straight for jabs and insults about how I look.
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It’s been a little over two weeks since I tweeted those three photos, and that single tweet has gone viral ― receiving nearly 300,000 likes and 30,000 retweets! I’ve been getting a lot of press and have been interviewed by Good Morning America, People, the BBC, MSN, CBS 2 Chicago and the Chicago Tribune. The post has also been shared by celebrities such as George Takei, Jameela Jamil and Blink-182?s Mark Hoppus.
Link to tweet
In that one tweet, I owned my beauty. For the first time in my life, I felt worthy and deserving. In less than 280 characters, I found the sense of self-confidence I’d been looking for since those days spent analyzing myself in front of the mirror.
I’m not a beauty queen. I know that. I’ll never win pageants or be on the cover of a fashion magazine, but that doesn’t mean I’m ugly.
In fact, I’m realizing more and more how my viral tweet wasn’t just about clapping back at internet trolls, though I admit that did feel good. That tweet also brought disabilities and beauty together ― two things we don’t typically associate with each other. That tweet showed the world that those two things can exist together and that disabilities can be beautiful.
Needless to say, the last two weeks have been a surreal whirlwind in the best way possible. I had no idea my one simple tweet would end up going viral, but I’m so glad it did because I really feel like we’ve started a much-needed conversation. And I’m here to tell you: Yes, I’m disabled. And, yes, it’s OK for people with disabilities to celebrate their beauty.
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