Having a Positive Body Image with Vitiligo

Christina Chitwood – Having a Positive Body Image with Vitiligo

World Vitiligo Day

June 25 is World Vitiligo Day, helping bring global awareness to the skin disorder characterized by skin depigmentation. At the World Vitiligo Day site, you can learn more about vitiligo.

Having a Positive Body Image with Vitiligo

My daughter, Christina, has vitiligo. It started at age 11 and gradually spread over much of her body. I was always proud of Christina for the way she’s handled having vitiligo. She never complained about it and has an amazingly positive body image despite her vitiligo.

I asked Christina how she’s able to keep such a positive attitude about her vitiligo. She said she never saw it as a flaw … she just thought of it as part of her. She’s lucky to have a supportive husband who feels the same way. Tom has always accepted Christina’s vitiligo as part of her rather than thinking of it as something bad.

Even when Christina competed internationally as a world-level ice dancer, she didn’t feel uncomfortable about her vitiligo. She did feel angry when a skating judge told her she needed to do something about her vitiligo. And she decided to work to help others with vitiligo feel accepting of themselves, too.

My husband, Terry, was a Jungian psychotherapist for 40 years. He’s now a trader. Terry has a wonderful explanation of one of the positive outcomes of Christina’s vitiligo. He says that Christina’s vitiligo separates her from the collective (societal) image of beauty and makes her a unique individual.

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A post shared by Chrissy Chitwood (@chrissychitwood)

Christina’s Post on “How to Accept Vitiligo and Other Imperfections”

Christina has a post (with embedded video) about vitiligo at her Christina Chitwood Performance blog. It’s called “How to Accept Vitiligo and Other Imperfections.”

Sending love and encouragement to people around the world who have vitiligo,