Thursday, March 25, 2010

Thumb Double?!



We all know how shallow America has become when it comes to "beauty". I don't have to throw around examples to make you see my point. It's clear to everyone that "perfection" is shoved down our throats at every turn. I will give you one really good example though. It shocked me. Then the more I tought of it, it appalled me!

I was visiting my cousin Alison recently. If you know me well, you know that I adore her. I brag about her all of the time. She is so beautiful. She is an AMAZING dancer. I mean, take your breath away good dancer. She is so funny. That is my favorite thing about her. She has the best laugh, and such a good sense of humor. We have so many good memories of laughing together. (Oh, and she is Michael Jackson's biggest fan...it's true and I had to say it. ) She was born when I was 12. I loved her from the moment I saw her. I always told my Aunt, "She is going to be beautiful when she grows up." And I was right. She is. :) But there is one tiny thing......well two tiny cute things that make her unique. She has brachydactyly, a rare condition also known as clubbed thumb.


I was visiting her this week and she told me she had been reading up on this condition. She said there is a Facebook page for other "toe-thumbers." I was surprised to look at all of the photos and see that they looked just like Alison's thumbs. I have always thought they were so cute. I had just never seen anyone else with them.....But there are. And there is someone FAMOUS with them...but sadly..she is not able to wear her thumbs proudly. Either by her own choice, or the choice of her sponsors.



Megan Fox is the well know actress from Transformers. She is beautiful and talented. But when the story broke that she suffered from brachydactyly, it threatened to knock her from magazine covers and conversations about sexiest women alive for the rest of her days....Well, it turns out that most people didn't care about her thumbs and she has managed to hold her spot in the limelight. She did need a bit of help though.

Much to the chagrin of her fellow brachydactyly sufferers around the globe, she (or her sponsors) insisted on having someone else's thumbs appear in the Motorola commercial for the Super Bowl. She employed a THUMB DOUBLE. I don't even want to know what a thumb double makes. I am sure it would make me angry and would spiral into a whole different post....

I wouldn't have cared about this story if it wasn't for my sweet cousin feeling offended over it. I don't blame her. I would be too. She has the cutest little daughter who will also be beautiful when she grows up.

Alison said she keeps checking to see if Ryland has little "toe-thumbs"
I asked her, "Do you hope she doesn't?"
"No, I hope she does!" she said.
I was glad to hear it.

13 comments:

  1. awww, thanks so much Michelle for writing about me!!! I love you so much too!

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  3. I didn't mean to delete the above comment. :) Sorry! Please feel free to repost!

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  4. My wife is such an entertaining writer... love you babe!

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  5. Thanks you guys...and Ali-B...you know you are my favorite cousin...shhhhh

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  6. Wow! what a great topic to write about. I didn't know about that condition. Thanks for the info on it. I always love reading your blogs Michelle! I can't wait to see u next week!! Love you!

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  7. I love you too Candi! I can't wait to see my big sister....

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  8. Did you know Megan has those thumbs? She hates them, you know, teen "being different" issues. I think she care less now, than in middle school, but she's always been very aware of them. She had to point them out to me though at some point, I never really noticed they were different. Google (of course) has taught me all about them! I showed her the article about Megan Fox and she found that interesting (then put her headphones back in and went back to Facebook)!

    Love your blog!
    Linnea

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  9. WOW - good information and GREAT writing!
    I think there is a syndrome/condition for everything now days!
    You're the best Michelle!

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  10. My honey, his daughter and his brother all have those thumbs. I always thought they were cute and I never thought they bothered him until recently. He told me I'm the only one who hasn't made him feel self-conscious about them. I think Megan Fox's employers need to get over themselves...

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  11. hi my name is Alyssa. :) I also have two clubbed thumbs and have always been really embarrassed about them. When I was young I always got picked on about them, and still to this day people make rude comments about them but I have learned to live with it. I would never describe this as a "condition" or a "disadvantage" just something that makes us unique. :)

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  12. I stumbled upon this blog post, my daughter also has clubbed thumbs, she is proud of them and shows them off! She also has other issues with her hands, some of her metacarpal bones are shorter than the other ones, so some fingers are shorter than the others and it looks like she doesn't have knuckles. Anyway, I thought you might like to know of other famous people that have clubbed thumbs (it hasn't effected their careers like Megan Fox).

    Anne Heche
    Malin Ackerman
    Sanaa Lathan
    Leighton Meester
    Vittoria Puccini
    Ashley Tesoro
    Anna Walton

    Your cousin actually sounds a lot like my Piper! Here is a link to the blog post I did about my daughters thumbs
    http://thesalazarfour.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-personally-think.html

    Out of curiosity, does anybody else in your family have them? The doctors have told us that it is genetic, but we have found no body on either side that have them.

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  13. That was an amazing post thanks for sharing your ideas..

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