Make-up artist puts strangers' insults on face
- Published
Doaa Shayea said strangers had told her it was a shame she was pretty as it was wasted on her because of her disability
A make-up artist who uses a wheelchair is writing "hurtful" words strangers call her on her face in a bid to raise awareness of the abuse she receives.
Doaa Shayea, 21, from Plymouth, was born with spina bifida, external and gets around using a wheelchair.
She is using her skills to highlight on social media the impact cruel words can have on those who are "different".
"I do a good job of hiding it but I want to show there is damage underneath and make-up is my mask," she says.
Doaa has posted images of herself with the words on her face on her social media accounts.
It was while scrolling through her Instagram feed, being bombarded with summery festival make-up looks, Doaa said she realised no looks highlighted disability.
"I don't feel disability has been accepted and it really does frustrate me," she said.
Doaa wanted to highlight how make-up can often be a "mask" for people who are struggling
"So with my make-up design, I wanted everyone to see what disabled people still have to put up with in 2019.
"It is like the words I write on my face - retard, bedridden - I get called them. It's hurtful."
Doaa has shared a video of her make-up on her Facebook page, hoping to inspire others to not let words define them.
The 21-year-old has shared her make-up designs on social media in the hope of inspiring others
"A lot of the time - to my face - I get people saying 'it's such a shame you're pretty, it's wasted on you'," Doaa said.
"I had a guy on the bus come up to me and look at me with the most sympathetic look.
"Then he said 'it really is a shame you're so beautiful as you're never going to do anything with it because you're in a wheelchair'.
"What can you say to that?
"As soon as you're seen in a wheelchair or with any disability, that beauty is gone. The wheelchair is always going to be seen before I'm going to be seen."
Doaa believes nobody should be defined by other people's words
Born in Yemen, Doaa moved to the South West of England with her family when she was six years old and swapped her crutches for a wheelchair a few years later.
"I used to be really paranoid being on crutches as I had a limp and I was always aware that people were staring at me," she said.
"Now, they still stare, but I can whizz right by them and speed off."
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"I can do everything anyone else can do," says Doaa
Doaa said she believed people "put a limitation on me" straight away and that was something she wanted to break.
"I can do everything anyone else can do." she added.
- Published19 April 2019
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