The Next Generation Who Needs to See Disability as Dimensional
I think we need more models that represent more than one thing.
We want people to be just one thing, but my “hashtags” have ‘The Two Fridas’ duality that I have often felt ashamed of.
“Beauty” and style must evolve beyond a singular token.
I say it in quotation marks because I do not consider myself the former willingly but that is not the point. The point is that: The world should consider more things beautiful that are more than one thing.
Please share this if you think that scars and robot parts and trauma can become strength, and SHOULD make its way into mainstream media and photography for more than one minute; Some representation check next to the dotted line.
(Hell, share and tag some brand or agency or director that you think will or should care because very few will and do. It won’t change anything but it sounds kinda renegade.)
Once, Frida couldn’t attend her own art gallery physically- bed rest and the year to which she lost her leg- but she demanded to have her bed taken INTO the gallery instead so she would not miss the meaning in her moment purely because her body could not meet her means.
My body cannot meet itself right now… but I am still myself inside. A fervent, fallible storyteller who needs to find new ways, right now, to be delivered to ‘the gallery’.
I am a profoundly Deaf woman who was set free by finding ASL later in life… though was raised within and loves a family that is hearing and English speaking. 2 things.
I am a human surviving Cystic Fibrosis, which has hit my digestive system and degenerative spine the most- missing organs and an abundance of add on artificial parts- but I also have been a working ballerina with many an audience none the wiser. 2 things.
I am possibly considered past my “peak”- if looking at the old model for how old someone could be to be relevant in modeling or artistry beyond - but my (very young) age of 38 is actually a tremendously spoiled privilege as it only recently was the average life expectancy for the illness. 2 things.
We are not just 1 thing, and neither are the next generations who need to see disability as dimensional…
A bed that’s in the room where feet could not tread.
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Don't deny yourself the feeling of
feeling beautiful Bailey, you are
absolutely gorgeous and that is
something I always pray that you can truly realise and embrace for yourself. You are nontraditional, and that's part of your beauty. You represent the under-represented. Scars are definitely beautiful. They tell a tale of life fought hard for, and won. You are an inspiration, and deserve a modeling career more than any perfect bodied "Barbie" that currently rules the modeling scene. You are far more human, relatable, and (at least in my eyes) beautiful than they are. Some of
the traits you embody that make you beautiful outside of your outer beauty (once again trust me you are physically beautiful too), are compassion, kindness, wit, vulnerability, sassiness, loyalty, and the duality of positivity and a palpable inner doubt which is what makes us human. You embody
the character we should all strive for, and you should be welcomed as a model, and be allowed to show off
your scars (life tales). Zebedee, We
Speak Model Agency, and even Dove all have disabled models with the first two being fully dedicated to just disabled models. Disabled models are taking a larger and larger share of the market as people are realising that being human and different is far more beautiful than some unhealthy calorie restricting Barbie model. You should look into those companies and show off those scars modeling. Beauty starts from within, and that means attitude, wit, charm, confidence,
positivity, and comfort in what your
body is and can do reigns supreme
You embody all the necessary traits
to be a very high draw model, and I
think you should go for it. I also believe (maybe not your thing personally, but that's your choice to make) that there should also be infinitely more disabled nude models. Nude modeling being
inclusive helps everyone realise the
full range of normal, and that disabled bodies are as desirable (and beautiful) as abled bodies. I will definitely share this, and I hope you check out some of the modeling agencies I mentioned. You deserve to be comfortable and happy with your body, and deserve to add to
the growing group of disabled models so that we all get more recognition.