'It's called vitiligo': Woman with patchy skin condition gets tattoo on her arm to explain why she looks different

August 24, 2015  11:45

For years, Tiffany Posteraro wore layer after layer of clothing and thick make-up to hide her skin.

She suffers from vitiligo, a condition which causes white patches to develop over the body, due to a lack of melanin - the pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their colour - in those areas.

People would stare at her everywhere she went if her skin was on show.

At school, she was called names such as 'cow', 'Dalmatian', 'ghost face' and 'burns victim', and boys in her class even said they couldn't take her on a date due to her skin.

Her confidence plummeted and she began covering herself up, and avoiding situations like pool parties, where she would have to wear a bikini.

But after meeting another vitiligo sufferer who put her in contact with support groups, she now wears her pale patches with pride.

The 24-year-old has even had the words 'It's called vitiligo' tattooed across her forearm as an answer to people's looks.

She said: 'I wanted to share with people what it is because that way they would learn something, rather than stigmatising.

'I decided to get the tattoo for that reason – to answer the questions in their heads and give them something to actually stare at.'

'Now people are like, "I love your tattoo". They 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.'

Seeing America's Next Top Model 2014 contestant Winnie Harlow, who also has vitiligo, bravely baring her skin on television, gave Miss Posteraro a confidence boost.

But it was spotting a fellow sufferer in Ikea in May this year that really inspired her.

It was the first time she had met someone else with the condition.

'I was so excited I went straight over to her and said, 'You have vitiligo – so do I,' she said.

'She told me about various support groups and Facebook communities I never knew existed. It was so empowering.

'After that I just thought, why should I hide who I am? It's exhausting.

'Now I only wear a little bit of make-up and the rest of my body I don't cover at all. I wear shorts and don't care what anyone thinks.'

A few weeks later Miss Posteraro had the words 'It's called vitiligo' tattooed in big letters across her forearm.

'I was sick of the stares,' she said. 'I just wanted to say, "come on, ask me what it is".

It allows people to ask her questions about her condition, and learn something, she said.

'It's over my forearm and wrist and goes over white patches, so it's perfect.

'It's very liberating. For me it makes it much easier to handle the stares.'

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