Every September 16 to 22, the Philippines observes Cerebral Palsy Awareness and Protection Week, as declared by Proclamation No. 588, s. 2004.
This week calls attention to the country’s most common lifelong motor disability in children, and highlights the urgent need for inclusivity, early intervention, and support.
In solidarity, Joyful Wellness joins the nation by publishing this article — an invitation to see beauty through a broader, more compassionate lens.
In every culture, beauty is a mirror of how we see ourselves and how the world chooses to see us. For too long, that mirror has reflected only one image — able-bodied, symmetrical, conventional.
But today, a quiet revolution is underway. People with cerebral palsy (CP) are not asking to be seen within those narrow frames of perfection—they are expanding the very definition of beauty itself.
WHAT, FOR YOU, IS REAL BEAUTY? WRITE YOUR THOUGHTS HERE.
Asserting Beauty Beyond Norms
Cerebral palsy, a group of disorders affecting movement and posture, often comes with visible differences — stiffness, tremors, or the use of mobility aids. Society has too often equated these differences with limitations.
But individuals with CP are showing us a more nuanced truth: that beauty is not diminished by disability, but deepened by authenticity.
Take Abbey Curran, the first woman with CP to compete in the Miss USA pageant, who used the stage to prove that pageantry is as much about courage as it is about crowns. Or dancer Jerron Herman, whose performances demonstrate not just physical grace but the artistry of living fully in one’s own body.
Across the globe, from pageant finalists to everyday beauty bloggers, people with CP are challenging stereotypes simply by being visible, confident, and unapologetically themselves.
As the documentary Shooting Beauty captured so poignantly, when the lens widens to include difference, beauty itself becomes richer.
READ: Miss Possibilities Marks Decade, Redefines Beauty Inclusion
The Science of Beauty and Confidence
Why does beauty matter in the first place? Because it is never just about surface.
Psychologists confirm that grooming, fashion, and beauty rituals are tied to self-image and confidence — powerful determinants of mental health and social well-being.
For people with CP, cultivating beauty rituals — whether that’s skincare, hairstyling, or makeup — can be an act of self-affirmation. Research on self-perception shows that such practices are not vanity, but tools for resilience.
When the world overlooks you, the simple ritual of choosing a color for your nails or dressing in clothes that reflect your personality can say: I belong. I am worthy.
Beauty, then, becomes more than adornment. It is therapy, a practice that reinforces identity and supports emotional well-being.
Accessible Beauty: A New Frontier
Yet beauty rituals can also come with barriers. Traditional makeup brushes may be hard to grip for someone with limited hand control; zippers and buttons can feel like battlegrounds. Here lies an urgent frontier: accessible beauty.
Around the world, innovators are rising to the challenge.
Adaptive tools — like larger-handled makeup brushes or magnetic closures in fashion — make self-expression more attainable. Some beauty brands have begun featuring people with disabilities in campaigns, signaling that inclusivity is not an afterthought but a responsibility.
Cheryl Mohan, a woman with CP featured in the True Complexion project, reminds us that beauty should not be defined by a conventional mold. Her very presence in a campaign widens the scope of what’s celebrated.
Representation matters. When someone with CP sees themselves in a beauty ad, a magazine, or a fashion runway, it tells them — and the world — that beauty is theirs, too.
Beauty as Therapy
Beyond visibility, beauty can actively support healing.
In some occupational therapy programs, grooming practices are integrated into treatment — helping patients build motor skills while also nurturing self-esteem. Choosing a hairstyle, practicing nail care, or even color therapy through clothing can play a role in physical and emotional wellness.
The beauty ritual becomes a bridge: between body and mind, therapy and joy, functionality and expression.
For people with CP, this is not a superficial indulgence but part of holistic wellness.
Beauty Without Barriers
To speak of beauty in the context of cerebral palsy is to invite the world to reconsider its own definitions. Beauty is not flawless skin or effortless symmetry.
It is the confidence to stand in one’s truth, the authenticity to embrace difference, and the inclusivity that ensures no one is left outside the mirror’s reflection.
For someone with CP, a lipstick is not just a cosmetic; it can be a declaration. A dress is not just fabric; it can be a flag of belonging. These rituals are not about conforming to society’s beauty ideals — they are about reshaping them.
Joyful Wellness: Confidence as Self-Care
At Joyful Wellness, we believe beauty is inseparable from well-being. When you feel good in your own skin, mental health strengthens, self-worth deepens, and joy becomes a lived reality.
Cerebral palsy may bring challenges, but it also brings resilience, artistry, and perspective. In redefining beauty, individuals with CP teach us all a timeless truth: that beauty without barriers is beauty at its most powerful.
Because in the end, beauty is not about perfection — it is about presence. And every person deserves to be seen.
References:
- Cerebral Palsy: The challenges, the beauty (Phoenix Children’s Hospital)
- How Woman With Cerebral Palsy Learned to Apply Makeup in Whole New Way (Newsweek)
- Confidence Through Pageantry: Abbey Curran (cerebralpalsy.org)
- The Beauty of Being a Dancer With Cerebral Palsy (Men’s Health)
- Miss GB finalist with cerebral palsy (BBC)
- True Complexion: Cheryl Mohan (Facebook)
- Shooting Beauty (cerebralpalsy.org)
