Face Equality Week 2025
It’s Face Equality Week from 12 – 19 May.
The theme, for the second year in a row, is “My Face is a Masterpiece, My Body is a Masterpiece”.
From Face Equality International:
“The stories of the facial and visible difference community are often portrayed with pity and prejudice. When this is a vibrant and diverse community that should be seen, heard, and celebrated. Especially in art form.
Society portrays a narrow perception of beauty and unattainable standards which perpetuate insecurities. These ‘ideals’ aren’t representative of the wonderfully diverse world we live in, that’s why we’re creating space to celebrate all masterpieces.
Help to make face equality a reality by using your creativity as a tool for social change. Let’s use art to celebrate visible and facial differences this face equality week.”
Usually I’d have lots of content planned, but not this year. This post was not planned. I might do some more posts through the week – I’m not sure. But I will share posts by the incredible people with facial and bodily differences, as always.
Right now, I feel pretty confident with my face – and I am getting there with my confidence with my body, which has changed a lot due to cancer. Wearing beautiful clothes, being happy and surrounding myself with good people makes me feel confident. When I see photos of myself, I see beauty.
My confidence shakes when I encounter rudeness, intrusion and discrimination based on my appearance. It does seem less and less now – I get complimented on my clothes and recognised as a public figure much more than asked if I’m sunburnt these days. But when it happens – BANG! Interrupted! I was just going about my (often great) day. And then I’m reminded that some people are afraid of my face; or don’t feel I deserve the same respect as people with beauty privilege.
And so I call for more authentic representation of facial difference in the media so my face, and all people with facial differences, is more accepted and less stigmatised.
More info: FaceEqualityInternational.org
Images: 1. Carly, a woman with red skin and short dark curly hair, wearing a navy, blue, green and white wrap dress over a navy top, dark leggings and black boots. She’s standing near a white wall smiling. 2. A selfie of Carly, the dress has two brooches on it – a penguin with a brown furry hood, the penguin is holding a sardine. The other brooch is a blue tin of sparkly silver sardines.
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