CRYSTAL HODGES: Somebody had stolen my image and I was going viral.
CRYSTAL HODGES: So, four years ago I came home from college and I signed on to Facebook and my friend
in Alabama sent me a message saying, ‘I saw your picture in my newsfeed today.’ I was like, ‘What?’
CRYSTAL HODGES: There was a photo of me that was going viral.
CRYSTAL HODGES: Somebody had stolen my image and it was turned into a meme.
CRYSTAL HODGES: And it ended up going viral to 30 million people.
CRYSTAL HODGES: My name is Crystal Hodges.
CRYSTAL HODGES: I have a port wine stain birthmark on my left cheek.
CRYSTAL HODGES: A lot of people think it is a skin pigmentation issue but it is more than that. It is a blood vessel
issue. So I have extra blood flow in my face but it also goes to my brain and it affects, like, the symmetry of my
face and my jaw structure is different. My jaw is not even.
CRYSTAL HODGES: So as a child with a birthmark, I noticed instantly as I was growing up that the adults
really are the worst when it comes to commentary and harsh comments.
CRYSTAL HODGES: Some have good intentions but there are definitely some who don’t. But as a kid, like, I quite
frankly forgot that I had a birthmark.
CRYSTAL HODGES: My family, they always treated me like a normal kid and, so it wasn’t really until I went viral
in 2014, I was turned into a meme and got cyber bullied that it really dawned on me how different I looked to
some people in society.
CRYSTAL HODGES: For the first time, I read thousands of strangers’ comments and saw myself through the
eyes of thousands of strangers. And, so for the last four years there hasn’t been a day where I have woken up and
not realised I look different. So every morning or every day at some point in my day I realise, ‘Oh, yeah! I have
a birthmark. I look different.
CRYSTAL HODGES: They say a picture is worth a thousand words and yet people were adding their
fictional thousands of words next to my image not understanding what was happening. So it was really
confusing time. I had a lot of emotions. I definitely felt, like, I went into a dark place for a while.
CRYSTAL HODGES: It was like I was having a staring contest with my selfie, the non-blinking selfie.
CRYSTAL HODGES: I think I definitely learned a bigger empathy
through my own story.
CRYSTAL HODGES: About six months before I went viral, I would go in kindergarten classrooms or sixth-grade
classrooms and I would talk about how we are all different, some of us just look different on the outside.
That’s one of my goals is to make a difference with my difference and how, you know, if we are all vanilla
flavouring or all are red crayon, it would be a really boring and bland world. And, so the world is more
beautiful when we come together. But when I went viral, it really just added fuel to the fire. It really emphasised
the importance of reminding people to be kind.
CRYSTAL HODGES: Before I speak, I get really, really nervous. That has not changed.
So I am Crystal. I wasn’t born looking like most babies. I was born with what is known as a port wine stain birthmark.
CRYSTAL HODGES: It’s not always easy having a facial difference. But there are some good parts too.
CRYSTAL HODGES: In the midst of the ugliness, in the midst of the terrible stuff, I never saw what would come,
never. Because of what has happened, I got opportunities to share my story. Our cracks and our
brokeness, they are not bad. They make us more compassionate, more loving and sometimes they make
us more influential. So, yeah, just shine through those cracks, guys.
CRYSTAL HODGES: I think it is important to me to share my story with other people because so often people feel
like they are alone and so when you share stories, it’s like people have there ‘me too’ moment. And they sometimes
often realise that they are not alone. I know how difficult it can be sometimes to live with a facial difference.
And, so if I can help be an advocate and to encourage kindness no matter what people look like or don’t look
like then I can make it easier for the next generation of people with facial differences. I think whether we have a
physical difference or not, or just insecurities. We need to remember, beauty is not a competition.