Dating: To Cover or Not to Cover?

Men. Boys. Males. The opposite sex. The other species. The toilet seat lifters. Whatever you may call them, they're a pretty vital part of life and I wanted to share some thoughts that ran into my mind the other day. Okay, so I show my Vitiligo now right (waahay!) and it's brilliant I've got my confidence back and I feel really great within myself. It was a mild Tuesday and I was staring at the television whilst daydreaming about Dean Thomas from Harry Potter when it dawned on me that I don't cover my vitiligo anymore. "Oh my god, I don't cover my Vitiligo anymore!" was the exact thought, and if I go on a date then the guy is obviously going to see it. Shortly after I also realised that this would be the first time I would be leading Vitiligo first on a date or when talking to a guy I was interested in.

Now my initial thought was "Uuggh, this is going to be fun" and I rolled my eyes and slumped down in my sofa, while I thought about all the rejection and difficulty that was awaiting me. Then I thought, "hold your horses, Negative Nancy; first of all, our dress sense has dramatically improved, we're looking pretty hot nowadays, and you've got a cracking personality. Plus beauty standards have changed, with beautiful Vitiligo models from all over the globe doing their thing out there, and wonderful people raising awareness on the positivity of being different and the importance of inclusivity in the major industries." Surely this has created a stir in terms of what is deemed attractive and the perception of beauty.

I didn't want to make anymore assumptions on how I thought people see me, and in this case, how men see me. So instead of assuming and being negative, I decided to be inquisitive and be positive. But how? How could I find out if the perception of beauty amongst men has changed? And whether it would really be difficult to find a date being a woman with Vitiligo. So I decided to do a little experiment.

Aha! I've got you now, haven't I? *grin* The scientist inside of me awakened and said, "I'm listening, Aisha, proceed"—for some reason in the voice of Professor Snape. So I thought, what if I could not only talk to a guy showing my Vitiligo, but actually get a date too? An array of New Year's Eve fireworks went off in my mind. I have lived so long with the perception that most men find Vitiligo unattractive and ugly, and I don't blame myself for this perception because I haven't had the best experiences. Well, now I am abandoning these painful experiences and I'm going forth to test this theory.

I joined a dating site, uploaded a couple of pictures of myself, wrote a cheeky bio and armed with a few questions on beauty, I charged into the battle Vitiligo first. What are the results, you ask? Well, I guess you'll just have to wait until the next blog. ; )

- Embroidered Skin