These AITA questions are seriously just people trying to tell a story of something they've gone through. They know they aren't TA, they just wanna post about an experience. This is one of those.

It would also help if the film industry wouldn't be so damn lazy and always be like "this person is the villain and we can't be bothered to come up with some decent backstory, so let's just make them ugly, disfigured, disabled or at least give them a very visible scar". Looking at you Disney with Scar from Lion King, the Bond movies with Dr. No (no hands), LeChiffre (cries blood because his tear ducts don't work right), Raoul Julia and Lyutsifer Safin (both have a disfigured face), Emilio Largo (eye patch), Victor "Renard" Zokas (facial injury due to headshot)

I think it's an important point that the people in this story are a young woman and a man twice her age. So often men in this situation feel they can just tell the woman what to do. "Smile!" "Cover up!" "Show some skin!" "Come over here!" It's almost like they think it's their duty to boss women around.

A few people are doubting the authenticity of this story. I think it's quite plausible due to the number of responses from others who've had similar experiences. The part that really stood out to me was that this is a young woman traveling alone who was approached by a much older man demanding that she change her appearance to appease HIS feelings. These types of exchanges happen every day to women and girls everywhere in the world and are part of the constant misogynistic microaggressions that come with living in a female body. "You should smile more", "You're wearing THAT?", "she looks so much better without all that makeup"... If she's in her early 20s then he is between 40-50 years old! She hasn't lived long enough to know that she was absolutely NTA here. I wouldn't have at that age, girls are trained to be nice, to not offend or talk back, and all sorts of societal BS that takes YEARS of lived experience to deprogram. I'm proud of her for standing up for herself.

You could have said "If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy". The dad should just mind his own business and focus on calming his kid down instead of ranting at this person

Wow, what a tool. My father knew a guy whose nose was amputated due to skin cancer, and one day he went to the shop and forgot to wear his prosthetic. A kid was staring at him, and the mother leaned over to him and said "that's what happens if you pick your nose!" Noseless guy had a good laugh and told everyone about it at work the next day.

Bah f**k people and their hang ups.

I'm a wheelchair user, and have also been totally bald due to treatment and people do stare and sometimes make really unkind or unthoughtful comments. It hurts. I try to talk to kids to try to teach them as often the parents haven't/don't. It doesn't stop hurting but I guess you learn to life with it. I try to focus on all the really positive interactions I have but it isn't always easy.

Not the a*s, ever! Is society so inured to people and their scars and problems that he had no compassion, it makes me worry about the future! You will always be beautiful, and now, you will be fiercely beautiful.

If anyone has a fresh healing wound that will eventually scar in a couple of months, start using coconut oil and cocoa butter. It will reduce the amount of scar you will have. It also works on pregnant women with stretch marks. I've used it for a large scar I have from a gall bladder operation from 33 years ago. It is gradually fading although the differences in tissue thickness is still obvious but harder to see now.

Wow, that guy took a great opportunity to teach his kid about f*****g MANNERS and instead chose to teach his kid how to be an A*****E

God no. I have severe eczema and hear comments from people who should know better all the time, most recently yesterday. I met my work colleagues partner for the first time and he made comments. It's fine, he's a d**k. I'm just glad he let me know he's a d**k before I made any effort in getting to know him and now have an excuse not to meet up with him in the future. People will always be arseholes.

Strong, beautiful, and alive. You go!

You did nothing wrong. That father was inappropriate and as you said, he needs to teach his son compassion and empathy and to not shame people.

Definitely NTA. He should have explained to his son that a scare or any deformation is not the living heaven and those who live with stigmas are humans just like us.

Honestly you will have it the rest of your life. And hopefully the image and interacting you had with the man and child will be with them too for theirs and remind them to be nicer. Kick a*s scar but sorry the injury happened but you're still here. A guy at work got a smaller gash in his forehead. And stitches and it's noticeable. I asked what happened as he pointed it out. Something like he fell. I said next time say it was a shark. It's funnier. And he was laughing like crazy. Our bodies are a road map of how we lived. You can't hide some of it but you can own it. Let it make you stronger and accept the support from people. And hey being known as the girl with the scar actually sounds cool as heck. Like a spy or adventurer.

I'm not even a f*****g parent, but it's obvious that none of you have ever tried to convince a preschooler to stop having a tantrum, on an airplane (or ever had a conversation with a four year old about monsters or anything of the sort.) A bright red wound that's only beginning to heal is not the same thing as a healed, closed scar.

I have an obviously crippled right foot and I know I make people uncomfortable but I am what I am and I don't need to hide

It is what it is. Deal with it.

ANYONE WHO SAYS YOU ARE THE AH IS AN AH!!! THAT GUY WAS HORRIBLE. GOOD FOR YOU FOR LISTENING TO YOUR DERMATOLOGIST!!!

Should have said f**k off

I agree that are a badass!

I need to see my psychiatrist after this.

Society has gone to hell in a handbasket. To many self-centered, uneducated idiots walking around thinking they are entitled.

Scars are sexy.

Most of these AITA stories are just that, made up.

PLEASE STOP WITH THE AITA reddit posts. Seriously. Get over it. They are just outrage porn.

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yes