Comments on: Vitiligo: More Than Skin Deep

By: luke

luke — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:28:10 +0000

this solves everything and deletes any misconception about michael purpuosly changing the colour of his skin

thankyou for ur honesty about this and infomative blog

By: The House Bitch

The House Bitch — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:53:13 +0000

It’s interesting how this skin disease has affected people differently. I too have vitiligo and have since I was 12 years old. (I’m 34 now.) I’m fair-skinned, which I’m certain makes a difference. I also dealt with teasing as a child, but it was my own fear of being considered a freak that really damaged my self-esteem. I became incredibly self-conscious and even the most innocent of questions made me feel as though I was living under a microscope. As hard as it was at times, I am okay. I’ve recently discovered that I made a far bigger deal out of my skin than anyone else ever did. The boys that wanted to date me barely even considered it, but I thought it made me less than.

My point is this, especially for young people dealing with this: it may seem overwhelming now. You may FEEL ugly or outcasted, but feeling that way doesn’t make it so. Vitiligo is not the center of my world now. It doesn’t determine what I can and cannot do. It doesn’t determine whether or not I am beautiful, whether or not I feel good about myself, whether or not I can do something worthwhile in the world. My life is meaningful. I have three beautiful children and a loving husband. I’ve been successful in a business career. I’ve been successful as a stay-at-home mom. I have plenty of friends. So your life can be as normal as anybody else’s. And honestly, I’m grateful for the way vitiligo shaped me, despite the pain it caused.

By: MyE

MyE — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:08:41 +0000

michael nunca te olvidaremos te lo juro

By: jaky

jaky — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:28:38 +0000

hi im jaky. im almost 13 and ive had vitiligo since i was about 4. i get teased nearly everyday, i have patches all over my body, im nearly fully covered. im seriously considering bleaching my skin like michael did. but i need to talk about it to my mother. hearing all ur stories really helped me. its very hard for me right now, younger people have alot of curiousity. the stares are getting old now, but the recent questions still hurt..

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:54:45 +0000

Laura G.
I completely agree with you. MJ had a right to live with vitiligo anyway that he was comfortable with. You can’t say that you would be comfortable with being a spokesperson either until you have lived under the super microscope that surrounded his life. I don’t blame him for wanting privacy. His life, whether you liked him or not, was definetely tragic and I believe he lived a lot of his life in sadness. I hope he finally is in peace now.

By: laura gaughan

laura gaughan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:50:40 +0000

I,ve written on here before on my own experiences with vitiligo and this time i want to make a comment about Michael Jackson. Yes his job gave him a platform to be a vit spokesperson should he have wished to be one but it seems he didnt. I,m not about to debate the eccentricities or decisions of a person i,ve never met however i,d like to defend each persons choice to deal with their vitiligo in a way that suits them. He was not obligated because of his job to become vitiligos spokesperson. It seems reasonable to me that when dealing with personal (and i hate the word but i,m at a loss to find another so i,ll use it) ‘deformity’ that it is difficult enough working through it, nevermind doing so whilst living in the public eye. Add in the issue of race ‘from black to white’…that is way more than i,ve had to deal with. No doubt there are people who feel Michaels reluctance to stand tall and proud about his vit was a missed opportunity however i disagree. Whether he wanted to or not he raised the profile of vitilgo and brought it to the attention of people who might otherwise never of heard of it. Even in his passing i believe this will continue to be the case and of course the debate about whether or not he had vit will run on and on. I liked his music, it just seems so sad. Hope he is at peace

By: Yvonna Stockel Brewer

Yvonna Stockel Brewer — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:35:15 +0000

The only thing I can say about MJ is he was a great entertainer. BUT…
Do you know what a difference he could have made for our future Vitiligo children? He had the power to come forward and help the children he claimed to love so much.Instead he made millions on a glove and media coverage for the wrong reasons.
How dare you Michael!

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:54:24 +0000

It’s amazing how malicious, misleading, and misinformed the mainstream media can be. ABC News is now airing photos of MJ’s leg like the ones included in the above article. They are calling the discoloration from vitiligo “injection marks” and the spider bite is now a wound from drug use.

Unbelievable.

By: Antonella

Antonella — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:10:32 +0000

I want to thanks everyone for sharing their stories,and for the beautiful words. I love Michael Jackson,he was a gorgeous man inside and out. :)

By: DS Delcio

DS Delcio — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:09:17 +0000

Thk U 4 explain me dat!
I really didn’t know nothing about vitiligo until today. I appreciated very much da way U wrote about it, it’s so clear. Thk u once again. And I’ve to agree dat u hit da nail when u say ” This man seems so uncomfortable in his own skin that he’s become a tragic shadow of his former self”. From this moment on the fact of Michael Jackson’s skins changed color make more sense to me now! Thks all ya 4 posting dat!

So 4 “laura gaughan” and 4 every people who suffer with it, I wanna to say ya that “U’ve got to keep ya head up”!