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Trolls Tell Woman She’s ‘Too Ugly’ To Be Posting Pics Of Her Face, She Responds By Posting Selfies For A Year
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Trolls Tell Woman She’s ‘Too Ugly’ To Be Posting Pics Of Her Face, She Responds By Posting Selfies For A Year

Woman Who Was Previously Told To Stop Posting Selfies Because She’s ‘Too Ugly’ Shares One A Day For A Whole YearPeople Tell This Woman With A Bone Condition Not To Post Pics Of Her Face, She Responds With One Selfie A Day For A YearTrolls Tell Woman She's 'Too Ugly' To Be Posting Pics Of Her Face, She Responds By Posting Selfies For A YearWoman Has Been Posting Selfies For A Year To Defy Haters Who Told Her 'She's Too Ugly' To Post Her PhotosWoman Who Was Told She's 'Too Ugly' To Post Photos Of Her Face Shares A Selfie Every Day For A YearWoman Who Was Told She's 'Too Ugly' For Selfies Posts A Pic Every Day For A YearWoman Who Was Told She's 'Too Ugly' Celebrates Herself By Posting A Selfie Every Day For A YearWoman Who Was Told That She Is 'Too Ugly' To Share Selfies Claps Back At Trolls By Posting A Selfie Every Day For A YearTrolls Tell This Woman That She's 'Too Ugly' To Share Pics Of Herself Online, She Fights Back By Posting Selfies For A YearWoman With Rare Genetic Disorder Posts Selfies Every Day For A Year After Bullies Tell Her She's 'Too Ugly' To Post Her Pics
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Last year, Melissa Blake wrote an anti-Trump op-ed piece for CNN and became a subject of cruel online trolling. People called her names like “blobfish” and “whale,” and others went as far as saying that she should be banned from posting photos of herself because she’s too ugly.

The 39-old journalist from Illinois, who suffers from a rare disorder called Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, which is characterized by joint deformities and abnormalities of the head and face, responded in the most badass way possible. Melissa started sharing selfies on social media and has kept it up every single day for a year now.

“I suppose it’s become something of a ritual—one that has brought me comfort and happiness, not to mention taught me plenty of lessons,” she wrote in an essay for Refinery29. Throughout the 366 days sharing selfies, from serious to playful, but all very genuine, Melissa became the biggest inspiration and voice for the disabled community. Not only has she defied trolls, she has also proven that her selfies are her story.

More info: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | MelissaBlakeBlog.com

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    Melissa is a 39-year-old writer and disability activist with the rare Freeman-Sheldon syndrome

    Image credits: melissablake81

    But back in 2019, she wrote an op-ed against Trump and received cruel backlash

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    Image credits: melissablake

    Trolls wouldn’t stop mocking Melissa’s appearance and calling her names

    Melissa responded by making an inspirational statement

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    In an essay Melissa wrote about her year spent posting selfies, she said that it became quite a ritual. Every night before falling asleep, she’d scroll through her selfie gallery and pick one pic to upload on her social media.

    Every selfie was tracked with the hashtag #MyBestSelfie and was accompanied by a text where Melissa would talk about her disability, daily routine, ups and downs, and whatever came to her mind that day.

    “With each selfie, I felt more comfortable in my own body and discovered a freedom I’d never really felt before as a disabled woman.”

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    And sharing a selfie every single day for a year that she dedicated to all the disabled peopleout there

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake

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    Melissa became one of the greatest inspirators on social media, proving nothing is impossible

    Image credits: melissablake81

    For a woman like Melissa who grew up feeling and looking different from people her age, each click of her iPhone felt like “I was able to have a conversation with my younger self, telling her all the things I wish I had known back when I was a teenager.”

    Her #MyBestSelfie initiative became a 366-day journey into self-healing. “So much of our culture is shaped and dictated by beauty standards—what is considered beautiful, who is considered beautiful, even the fact that beauty is valued in the first place.”

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    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Because our society tells disabled people that they fall out of lines of beauty standards, it was extremely hard for Melissa. But she soon realized she wasn’t the only one.

    “I may have started this year of selfies for myself, but I soon realized that these selfies weren’t just about me. Other disabled people told me they identified with my words, too, and they began posting selfies of their own,” she wrote.

    Image credits: melissablake81

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    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Melissa managed to gather the disabled community to take “our rightful place at society’s table.” The woman dedicated her selfies to every disabled person who continues to fight their way into our societies.

    “We can do little things, like sharing our experiences through photos, and still have a huge impact on the world around us. My selfies are my story,” she concluded in a beautiful piece.

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Throughout the 366 days of self-discovery, Melissa has been actively posting on social media, wrote essays, and even modeled for New York Fashion Week

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    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    Image credits: melissablake81

    And this is what people had to say

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    Liucija Adomaite

    Liucija Adomaite

    Writer, Community member

    Read more »

    Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus.

    Read less »
    Liucija Adomaite

    Liucija Adomaite

    Writer, Community member

    Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus.

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

    Read less »

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Ilona Baliūnaitė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda since 2017. I've searched through a multitude of images to create over 2000 diverse posts on a wide range of topics. I love memes, funny, and cute stuff, but I'm also into social issues topics. Despite my background in communication, my heart belongs to visual media, especially photography. When I'm not at my desk, you're likely to find me in the streets with my camera, checking out cool exhibitions, watching a movie at the cinema or just chilling with a coffee in a cozy place

    What do you think ?
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    Foxxy (The Original)
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow, some people are so cruel and nasty. I am disgusted to see a couple of comments on here. What if this was your child, mother, sister, friend etc? Would you be so cruel or would you like seeing others being so heartless. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Good on Melissa Blake on doing this, she should be proud of standing up for herself. The haters are just sad, pathetic losers with nothing better to do.

    Aria Whitaker
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bored Panda, WHY is the troll Rokas still allowed to post here with his racial slurs and hate? I have seen comments taken down that were WAY less harmful than his....

    Load More Replies...
    Steve Barnett
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    HI Melissa Blake. Firstly, you are not ugly. Secondly. YOU. ARE. NOT. UGLY. However, Trolls are; They’re pathetic individuals that struggle with their own inadequacies. I never respond to their spiteful comments because that’s what they want. The best thing is to just ignore them and let them wallow in their own defecation of putrid thoughts.

    Tina Hugh
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    She’s an inspiration. It’s a shame people can be so stupid. There’s something wrong with them.

    Load More Comments
    Foxxy (The Original)
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow, some people are so cruel and nasty. I am disgusted to see a couple of comments on here. What if this was your child, mother, sister, friend etc? Would you be so cruel or would you like seeing others being so heartless. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Good on Melissa Blake on doing this, she should be proud of standing up for herself. The haters are just sad, pathetic losers with nothing better to do.

    Aria Whitaker
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bored Panda, WHY is the troll Rokas still allowed to post here with his racial slurs and hate? I have seen comments taken down that were WAY less harmful than his....

    Load More Replies...
    Steve Barnett
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    HI Melissa Blake. Firstly, you are not ugly. Secondly. YOU. ARE. NOT. UGLY. However, Trolls are; They’re pathetic individuals that struggle with their own inadequacies. I never respond to their spiteful comments because that’s what they want. The best thing is to just ignore them and let them wallow in their own defecation of putrid thoughts.

    Tina Hugh
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    She’s an inspiration. It’s a shame people can be so stupid. There’s something wrong with them.

    Load More Comments
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