People stare at me, children look away when they see me – and then they look again. People ask, ‘what happened to you then?’ – as if there is something odd about me.

I’m happy with the way I look but are you?

Sometimes I feel as if you’d like me to blend in, get my face fixed; you have these myths about me and judge me as being someone who is perhaps a sad figure, bravely coping … or somehow less attractive, less capable than you are – even less of a person. You probably do this unconsciously, not deliberately, unwittingly…

There are over one million people in the UK who have a disfigurement, over 500,000 to their face – either present at birth or acquired from an accident, cancer surgery, a skin or eye condition, or facial paralysis.

Every day, they are exposed to these assumptions, just like me – and to the staring, awkwardness and occasional blatant rudeness than can result.

We experience ‘facial prejudice’ and ‘facial discrimination.’ What we want is face equality.

Face equality is not about getting rid of my noticeable face, but valuing and treating me as an equal.

If face equality existed you might still see me as unusual but you would not judge me as unfortunate or inferior.

You can help make face equality a reality.

So I urge you to stand out and show your support for face equality. Do something different so we can all change the way we face disfigurement.”

James Partridge OBE
Chief Executive, Changing Faces