Quote · Stuff You Should Know
Selects: Birthmarks: Probably Not the Mark of the Devil
Where this was said
Facial Differences, Vitiligo, and changingfaces.org
At 39:32 · chapter starts 38:35
Josh and Chuck step back from the medical details to make a broader social point: people with facial differences — whether from birthmarks, vitiligo, or other causes — face unnecessary stigma because the rest of society hasn't caught up. Josh plugs changingfaces.org, which takes the position that people with facial differences are not cognitively or physically impaired in any way; the burden of adjustment is on the public. He and Chuck both note personal connections to vitiligo, flagging it as a future episode. The segment has the feel of two people who've thought about this a lot and genuinely want to move the needle.
The UK organization changingfaces.org advocates for people with facial differences by pushing back on society rather than the individuals. Their message: people with birthmarks or other facial differences aren't cognitively or physically impaired. The rest of society needs to adjust its reaction.
Because birthmarks have no known cause, cultures worldwide invented explanations blaming the pregnant mother. Being startled and touching her face, eating too many strawberries, drinking port wine, gazing at fire — all were supposedly capable of marking the unborn child. The X-ray version persisted into the modern era.
