Woman Shares Photo Of Poignant Vitiligo Tattoo To Educate Those Who Stop And Stare

Woman Hopes To End Stigma With Poignant Vitiligo Tattoo
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Living with a noticeable skin condition can be difficult, especially when people stop and look at you for far longer than they should.

In a bid to educate those people who stop to gaze at her skin, one woman with vitiligo has had a simple, yet incredibly poignant, tattoo inked onto her forearm.

The tattoo is a simple way to explain to passersby that the white patches across her body aren't contagious or from a horrific accident.

It simply reads: 'It's called vitiligo'.

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Tiffany Posteraro (aka Imgur user 'twalks') shared a photo of the tattoo, as well as more images of the white patches which cover her hands, arms, legs and head.

The photos were accompanied by a brief explanation of what vitiligo is and how being stared at constantly is affecting her self confidence.

She wrote: "I know this isn't a life threatening disease and in some rare cases can be successfully treated.

"[But] when people stare at you because your skin is different or think you've suffered an accident it starts to wear down your confidence."

It can affect any area of skin, but most commonly occurs on skin exposed to the sun, such as the face, neck and hands.

Awareness of vitiilgo has increased over the past few years, with models such as Winnie Harlow bringing the condition into the mainstream media and challenging beauty standards at the same time.

It isn't the first time that Posteraro has spoken out about vitiligo. She previously told the Mail Online that she'd been bullied at school because of her skin condition.

Children would call her "dalmation", "cow" and "burns victim". As she's grown older, people in the street will stop and stare.

Since having the tattoo, she says people still stare but they also ask questions about the condition and "go away enlightened".

"They know I didn't get burnt in a fire. They know there's a term for what I have," she said.