[Music]
do you think I am beautiful what about
now when you saw that I have no left arm
did that change your thoughts on my
beauty society the media fashion or
dictates what is beautiful or what is
perceived to be beautiful in our world
today these are often unachievable
levels of perfection but what is perfect
perfection does not exist it is time to
stop aspiring to perfection and why
should you care because each and every
one of us is unique each and every one
of us deserves to be represented today I
speak about disability but no matter
your race age shape size color class
gender choice
sexuality or any other difference you
your true unique authentic self is the
most beautiful thing that you can ever
be so I’m here today to challenge the
perceptions about beauty for all of us
living in an age where the amount of
followers or likes can determine your
worth the pressure to be perfect is that
an all-time higher
well how about this for a revelation you
do not need instagrams approval or
permission to feel beautiful or worthy
or receiving love
how beautiful would it be if you had the
freedom to be yourself
the total freedom to be yourself the
freedom to feel beautiful you do not
need to be the media’s version of
perfect your life does not have to be
perfect your skin does not have to be
perfect you do not have to be perfect
you just need to be seen heard
represented celebrated in this
wonderfully diverse world that we live
in the most moral and modern thing
society the media can do is represent us
so do not let society strip you of your
natural beauty your goals your dreams
your aspirations they are all valid and
they are all worthy be proud of who you
are I have to be determined because the
oppression the unfairness and
discrimination against disabled people
is relentless but I always have to
challenge it but to create change you
have to be fearless you have to be
courageous I remember years ago a young
girl decided to contact me she was born
she wore a prosthetic arm all of her
life when in reality the damn thing was
hard impractical
hot uncomfortable completely disabling
but she longed to have the confidence
the courage to be herself to take it off
to be free she wrote to me asking for
advice I can’t remember exactly what I
she wrote back to me years later to say
she doesn’t wear the fake arm anymore
that she is happy she is confident has
made lots of new friends and is studying
photography in her final year at uni she
went on to say deciding to contact me
was the best decision of her life and
that meant absolutely everything to me I
often wonder how this girl’s life would
have turned out if she did not have
anybody to represent her in the media we
all need role models we need connectors
leaders heroes to enable us to dream but
everything and anything is possible
happy one hand I was born this way so
having one hand was just natural to me
I never identified with the word
disabled the word just sounds so
negative day is boring broken not a word
that I identify with my personality or
my body I could do exactly the same as
my friends all without fear I free
myself into everything I climbed I swam
I rode a bike drove a go-kart
I danced all without fear because I
never saw myself as different
I never identified with the term
disabled and I never compared myself to
anybody in my eyes I could do the same
things as my friends date the guys I
liked the boys
I could wear stylish clothes
I was just as beautiful as my friends or
even the models in the magazines
then I became a model I was science or
top London agency you would think I bet
my most confident and happy right it’s
quite the opposite for the first time in
my life I felt very disabled 10 years
ago at the start of my modeling career I
watched a video of a model she was a
fashion week and she said the fashion
week would rather burn down and see a
disabled model on the runway this image
is of me
modeling for Tatum Jones at London
Fashion Week in February yes I am on
fire but not the way that model
envisioned but I was exposed to other
people’s opinions on beauty and for the
first time in my life I felt guilty
ashamed embarrassed about my body when
before I never felt like that so my
confidence and self-worth was at an
all-time low I know you can relate when
was the last time you felt you weren’t
pretty enough thin enough cool enough
handsome enough buff enough that your
idols in social media or in the
magazines were something that you would
never ever be well that feeling became
my every day reality I had no idea that
people feared a body like mine so much
but then I thought about it
where were the images like me in fashion
magazines in advertising campaigns on
the billboards on TV
we have always been seen as a burden to
society as inferior the a disabled
person could not possibly do anything
better than one of the normals in some
countries the murder of disabled babies
still goes on today but this is just a
brief snapshot of the treatment of
disabled people in the fashion industry
the treatment of disabled people in the
world incarcerated institutionalized
isolated dehumanized in 2018 we have
made some slow progress but there’s so
much more to do most of you would
believe that or think that a disability
is something you’re born with or that
you require for an accident or old age
right what if I told you that disability
is something society is created by
putting up barriers to inclusion like
physical access for example I am NOT
disabled by missing a hand missing a
hand is only your perception I’m not
missing anything I am whole and I am
complete I am disabled by the lack of
opportunities I am disabled by the
attitudes of society I do not need to
change anything about my body society
needs to change the way it fused my body
my body is the reason why I’m standing
here on the stage talking to you today
my body is the reason why I have the
privilege of helping other people
my body is a reason why I’m committed to
making a difference in the fashion
industry in our world I’m committed to
make changing the ways
CiCi’s disability and beauty I invite
let’s do it now
choose love over fear let’s relish in
every so-called flaw or imperfection
let’s support and empower each other
move mountains chase dreams break
barriers stand in your power and say
this is who I am
accept your physicality be proud of who
you are and love the skin that you’re in thank you
do you think I am beautiful what about
now when you saw that I have no left arm
did that change your thoughts on my
beauty society the media fashion or
dictates what is beautiful or what is
perceived to be beautiful in our world
today these are often unachievable
levels of perfection but what is perfect
perfection does not exist it is time to
stop aspiring to perfection and why
should you care because each and every
one of us is unique each and every one
of us deserves to be represented today I
speak about disability but no matter
your race age shape size color class
gender choice
sexuality or any other difference you
your true unique authentic self is the
most beautiful thing that you can ever
be so I’m here today to challenge the
perceptions about beauty for all of us
living in an age where the amount of
followers or likes can determine your
worth the pressure to be perfect is that
an all-time higher
well how about this for a revelation you
do not need instagrams approval or
permission to feel beautiful or worthy
or receiving love
how beautiful would it be if you had the
freedom to be yourself
the total freedom to be yourself the
freedom to feel beautiful you do not
need to be the media’s version of
perfect your life does not have to be
perfect your skin does not have to be
perfect you do not have to be perfect
you just need to be seen heard
represented celebrated in this
wonderfully diverse world that we live
in the most moral and modern thing
society the media can do is represent us
so do not let society strip you of your
natural beauty your goals your dreams
your aspirations they are all valid and
they are all worthy be proud of who you
are I have to be determined because the
oppression the unfairness and
discrimination against disabled people
is relentless but I always have to
challenge it but to create change you
have to be fearless you have to be
courageous I remember years ago a young
girl decided to contact me she was born
she wore a prosthetic arm all of her
life when in reality the damn thing was
hard impractical
hot uncomfortable completely disabling
but she longed to have the confidence
the courage to be herself to take it off
to be free she wrote to me asking for
advice I can’t remember exactly what I
she wrote back to me years later to say
she doesn’t wear the fake arm anymore
that she is happy she is confident has
made lots of new friends and is studying
photography in her final year at uni she
went on to say deciding to contact me
was the best decision of her life and
that meant absolutely everything to me I
often wonder how this girl’s life would
have turned out if she did not have
anybody to represent her in the media we
all need role models we need connectors
leaders heroes to enable us to dream but
everything and anything is possible
happy one hand I was born this way so
having one hand was just natural to me
I never identified with the word
disabled the word just sounds so
negative day is boring broken not a word
that I identify with my personality or
my body I could do exactly the same as
my friends all without fear I free
myself into everything I climbed I swam
I rode a bike drove a go-kart
I danced all without fear because I
never saw myself as different
I never identified with the term
disabled and I never compared myself to
anybody in my eyes I could do the same
things as my friends date the guys I
liked the boys
I could wear stylish clothes
I was just as beautiful as my friends or
even the models in the magazines
then I became a model I was science or
top London agency you would think I bet
my most confident and happy right it’s
quite the opposite for the first time in
my life I felt very disabled 10 years
ago at the start of my modeling career I
watched a video of a model she was a
fashion week and she said the fashion
week would rather burn down and see a
disabled model on the runway this image
is of me
modeling for Tatum Jones at London
Fashion Week in February yes I am on
fire but not the way that model
envisioned but I was exposed to other
people’s opinions on beauty and for the
first time in my life I felt guilty
ashamed embarrassed about my body when
before I never felt like that so my
confidence and self-worth was at an
all-time low I know you can relate when
was the last time you felt you weren’t
pretty enough thin enough cool enough
handsome enough buff enough that your
idols in social media or in the
magazines were something that you would
never ever be well that feeling became
my every day reality I had no idea that
people feared a body like mine so much
but then I thought about it
where were the images like me in fashion
magazines in advertising campaigns on
the billboards on TV
we have always been seen as a burden to
society as inferior the a disabled
person could not possibly do anything
better than one of the normals in some
countries the murder of disabled babies
still goes on today but this is just a
brief snapshot of the treatment of
disabled people in the fashion industry
the treatment of disabled people in the
world incarcerated institutionalized
isolated dehumanized in 2018 we have
made some slow progress but there’s so
much more to do most of you would
believe that or think that a disability
is something you’re born with or that
you require for an accident or old age
right what if I told you that disability
is something society is created by
putting up barriers to inclusion like
physical access for example I am NOT
disabled by missing a hand missing a
hand is only your perception I’m not
missing anything I am whole and I am
complete I am disabled by the lack of
opportunities I am disabled by the
attitudes of society I do not need to
change anything about my body society
needs to change the way it fused my body
my body is the reason why I’m standing
here on the stage talking to you today
my body is the reason why I have the
privilege of helping other people
my body is a reason why I’m committed to
making a difference in the fashion
industry in our world I’m committed to
make changing the ways
CiCi’s disability and beauty I invite
let’s do it now
choose love over fear let’s relish in
every so-called flaw or imperfection
let’s support and empower each other
move mountains chase dreams break
barriers stand in your power and say
this is who I am
accept your physicality be proud of who
you are and love the skin that you’re in thank you
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