Description:

For most of my life, I hated my body. Growing up, I never saw anyone who looked like me. I was the only child in my school with one hand, and no one in the media looked like me either. Because of this, other people thought I looked weird. I was constantly stared at and bombarded with questions about my disability. Sometimes, people would even shout "That's disgusting" while pointing straight at my arm. So, I started to hate the way that I looked. I thought I was ugly and a freak. I hated my arm, and I hated my disability.

Disabled women everywhere grow up experiencing the same negative interactions and form the same negative relationship with their bodies as I did, due to the lack of disabled representation and portrayal of disabled women as beautiful in media. This teaches us that disabled bodies are ugly and unworthy of being showcased, contributing to disabled women experiencing body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depression and eating disorders due to the inability to conform to perceptions of ideal beauty.

Different Body is a connected publication that explores how perceptions and ideals around beauty might be challenged through a self-reflection of disabled experiences. The publication explores my self-acceptance journey, detailing my experiences of disability throughout different stages of my life, from hating my disability throughout childhood to finally embracing my disability as a young adult. Experimental typography and publication design are used to express the emotion, personal feelings, and disabled perspectives experienced throughout each stage to intensify the written content. This sheds light on the disabled experience and attempt to conform to beauty ideals. Sharing disabled voices can empower disabled women to embrace their disability and encourages change around how we perceive disability.