About the Author: Lisa-Marie is an amazing wheelchair model and influencer. She shares incredible images and photoshoots on her Instagram, all while informing and educating her followers on her self confidence journey and what makes her feel beautiful. She is a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, and never lets it get in her way. If you like this piece by her (I mean, how could you not?) make sure to check out her instagram for more content here!
What is beauty? What is beauty to you? Is it confined to the superficial standards we are used to seeing on social media platforms for the able bodied only? Or is it something that extends soul deep that applies to the whole human race?
People use the term beautiful alot. People say that being ‘beautiful’ is what a woman must be. What if we don’t let society chain us to these norms? Everyone is beautiful in their own way. Be fierce, be intellectual, be talented, be witty, be a little crazy! There’s an eternity of things that you can strive to be other than beautiful. Being a wheelchair girl like me, people expect us to be unseen, and to some we don’t even fit into this category of ‘beauty’.
Who doesn’t like the idea of feeling sexy and attractive? Does being in a wheelchair snatch this right from me? Just like other women, I want to feel good about myself too. The fact that my legs do not work does not stop me from wanting to be attractive too! We may be different but we can still be sexy!
All my life I’ve received those deceitful looks and frightened glares. I go to the club and girls whisper about me being there. My disability has chained me to my chair. Now society is chaining me to this idea that I’m not able to wear a short dress, have my falsies on, my hair extensions in and hit the club! We may be in wheelchairs but that makes us no different from you. Having a disability is not really a DISability - I am still ABLE to live my life in every way you can but in a different way. I believe it should be called different ability!
So what is beautiful anyway? It’s just a set of 9 letters strung together to make a word. Be your very own definition of beautiful, in your own unique way. That is so much more important than conforming to what society wants us as women to be! Whether you are in a wheelchair or not, able bodied or have a disability! Don’t let this perception of beauty define you. Be yourself! Show off your difference in ability! We all have the right to express ourselves through the way we look in a way that makes us feel good and beautiful! Be your own kind of beautiful! Each and every one of you is undeniably majestic in your own light!