René Duchan was born with a rare genetic disorder called Pfeiffer Syndrome, a very rare syndrome characterized by structural abnormalities of the head, face, fingers, and toes. In her post on Tumblr, the girl showed everyone what flaws she inherited from nature.
When Rene goes out into the street, people openly stare at her, and it costs her a lot of effort to endure this humiliation, she literally fights with her appearance. In her own words, Rene wears bangs all her life to hide her protruding forehead and does everything possible to look good with all the initial data.
But surprisingly, by sharing her story online, Rene received responses, not from trolls and rude people. On the contrary, they received her very warmly, and sincerely, and they wrote that her example inspires them.
“From the first year of study to the last, I studied with ordinary children. By my senior year, I began to worry a lot that I would have to explain to all the new people in college why I looked the way I did. I started to sit on Tumblr and saw a huge number of cheerful and confident people there.
But how hard it is to pull yourself together and not respond to angry, caustic comments! When I appear in public, everyone starts staring at me. I can’t wear makeup like a normal teenage girl. It’s almost like an internal battle to get yourself out of the house, but at the same time, I grew up used to this kind of treatment.
Who gave models, celebrities, and glossy magazines the right to impose on us what is normal and what is beyond? We look at photo reports from movie premieres, design campaigns, and red carpets and take them as a call to action. But shouldn’t we, first of all, be ourselves, with our beauty and with what nature has given?
Society tells us what is beautiful so we buy those services and products that will allow us to get closer to this beauty. I may not like my appearance, like many teenagers, but designers will not change that.
Problems begin when these opinions become the ultimate truth. And if you don’t look like this or that, you’re ugly. And it is necessary not to blame society, but to change the attitude. It’s about beauty.” And since Renee posted her story, she’s received thousands of heartfelt responses.
