By now, you’ve heard of Winnie Harlow. The 24 year old Canadian native has been making waves in the modeling world since she became a contestant on America’s Next Top Model in 2014. She’s been the face of Desigual, landed several magazine covers, walked during London Fashion Week, and even attended the 2018 Met Gala, one of the most exclusive parties of the year. Harlow also has vitiligo, a skin condition characterized by non pigmented areas of the skin. Vitiligo is not medically harmful, and only affects one’s appearance.

Despite the fact that it isn’t harmful, many are quick to talk about Winnie Harlow’s skin like an unfortunate infection, when it is far from it. Earlier this year, The Evening Standard, a British publication, ran a picture of Harlow, describing her as a “Canadian vitiligo sufferer.” Many were appalled by this, including Winnie herself. She took to Instagram, calling out the magazine in a post saying, “stop putting these labels on me or anyone else. I AM NOT SUFFERING.”

Winnie, like any other person, should not be characterized by what she looks like. Her position as a model gives her visibility, but it should be a point of inspiration for others, not permission to reduce her to one aspect of herself. So often in the media, we see celebrities boiled down to their appearance and talked to as if they are a fountain of knowledge on all issues because of the way they look or who they are. In fact, Harlow is tired of it. In 2016, she told ELLE Canada “I am very sick of talking about my skin… I am not a vitiligo spokesperson just because I have vitiligo.”

Well said Winnie, Well said.