A new trend, which is gaining popularity, encourages differently abled Twitter users to love themselves
A new hashtag has been steadily gaining popularity on Twitter over the past couple of days, and its refreshingly feel-good message is one we can all appreciate. #DisabledAndCute is a fun way for people with disabilities to share their story online, encouraging them to post pictures that make them look adorable.
The hashtag’s creator, Twitter user Keah Brown, came up with the idea earlier last week as a way to promote a positive body image for herself as well as others like her. Brown has lived with cerebral palsy all her life and hopes the trend can provide support and encouragement for people suffering with both visible and internal disabilities. “Share your favorite pictures too using #DisabledAndCute,” Brown tweeted, using the hashtag for the first time. “We’re honestly cute as hell, so I hope #DisabledAndCute becomes a thing!”
Brown says her hashtag was born of an effort to push back against the idea that disabled people are automatically unattractive. Yet, as obviously flawed as such a belief may seem, she says she had to go through her own process of self-discovery before being able to reject that kind of internalised negativity. “I started it as a way to say I was proud of the growth that I made in learning to like myself and my body,” she said in an interview with Teen Vogue. Now, her original Twitter post is still gaining attention, having crossed 400 retweets and 1,000 likes a week later.
As a side effect, the hashtag has also been a showcase of diversity within the disabled community. Twitter users of different ages, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities are coming together for a common cause, and in the process attempting to support each other as well. Brown hopes the hashtag will continue to empower the community to celebrate themselves, even as she feels the world occasionally disregards and stereotypes disabled people. “My disability is not all that I am, but it is a big part of who I am,” she told Cosmo. “I will never not be disabled, and so to [conceal] that part of me would be ridiculous.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=tracking}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "DisabledAndCute")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}