Off The Record
She Was Cruelly Told By Trolls That She Was “Too Ugly.” But Wait Till You See How She Looks Like Today
I think we can all agree that bullying is one of the worst things about current life.
It is completely wrong to judge someone based on something as unimportant as how they look, but social media has made it easier for people to be mean to each other while still remaining anonymous.
Melisa Blake is well aware of this. Mean people on the Internet told her she was “too ugly” to post pictures of herself.
As you might expect, Melissa was upset by the comments, which came after she wrote a story for CNN in 2019.
Someone on YouTube shared a picture of her before the story went live, and then hundreds of people attacked her looks.
Melissa has Freeman Sheldon syndrome, a disorder that causes problems with the hands and feet and the head and face. She was called a “blob fish” and a “whale,” among other names.
Reminder that this is what it’s like to be a disabled woman writer on the internet AND #ThisIsAmerica in 2019: A conservative YouTuber mentioned my recent op-ed about #UnfollowTrump. The comments? I’m fat, ugly and look like a blob fish, a parade balloon and a potato with a face. pic.twitter.com/ROczIXKNom
— Melissa Blake (@melissablake) August 8, 2019
She didn’t let the sick trolls make her depressed, though. Instead, she chose to stand up for herself in a very unique way.
Melissa wrote on Twitter, “During the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I’m too ugly. So I’d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies …“
People rushed to Melissa’s defense after that tweet got a lot of attention online. But the author didn’t stop there. Not at all.
Melissa posted a selfie every day for a year after being told she was so ugly that she should be “banned” for taking them.
During the last round of trollgate, people said that I should be banned from posting photos of myself because I’m too ugly. So I’d just like to commemorate the occasion with these 3 selfies… 📸😉👋🏻 pic.twitter.com/9ZuSYFOtwv
— Melissa Blake (@melissablake) September 7, 2019
She now has 100,000 people following her on Instagram, up from 7,500. Melissa, who is 39 years old, shared pictures every day, but she also talked about things like disabilities. According to Refinery29, she said:
“There was one thing they all had in common: Each selfie truly reflected my personality and who I was. Each was a celebration, and each carried a message.”
She went on:
“It’s a way of taking back my power and painting a more accurate picture of disability. Because the one we have now? It’s more 1950 than 2020 — full of misconceptions that often only show disabled people as drains on society. On the contrary, we lead full lives and I’m so proud that I was able to show that for an entire year.”
Not sure about you, but I’m so proud of Melissa for being brave enough to stand up to the disgusting trolls who tried to put her down for a laugh.
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Mary Beth, I don’t know if you’ll read this, but if you do, thanks!
Thank you for telling people to ignore mean people who only want to put others down. We learned that beauty is only skin deep thanks to you. Thanks for being you!
Please SHARE this story if you’re proud of Melissa and want to see no more bullying in the world!
