Growing up with your parents around during childhood provides a sense of safety.
However, being forced to grow up without them or knowing you were abandoned can sometimes lead to feelings of resentment toward them.
Xueli Abbing, a 16-year-old born in China, experienced this firsthand when she was abandoned at birth. She was left at the door of an orphanage, and the identity of her parents remains completely unknown.
The orphanage staff gave her the name Xueli, where “Xue” means snow and “Li” means beautiful, reflecting the fact that she was born with albinism.
Albinism is a genetic condition that reduces melanin, resulting in pale skin, hair, and eyes.
Xueli was adopted by a family in the Netherlands who provided her with a loving home. At the age of 11, she was approached by a designer in Hong Kong to model for a campaign that celebrated diverse types of beauty.
“She called the campaign ‘perfect imperfections’ and asked if I wanted to join her fashion show in Hong Kong,” Xueli shared in an interview with the BBC. “That was an amazing experience,” she added.
Around the world, people with albinism often face discrimination, and in some regions, they are even “hunted” due to the false belief that their bones have medicinal properties. Reflecting on this, Xueli once remarked, “I’m lucky I was only abandoned.”
Even within the fashion industry, models with albinism are sometimes used as props to depict angels or ghosts. About this, Xueli said, “It makes me sad.”
Fortunately, she had the chance to work with a London photographer who treated her like any other model, resulting in a stunning photoshoot. One of the photos was even featured in Vogue Italia in its June 2019 issue.
“At the time, I didn’t know what an important magazine it was, and it took me a while to realize why people got so excited about it,” she recalled.
Modeling also brings its challenges for Xueli. With only 8 to 10% vision, looking directly at camera flashes can be painful. Despite this, she continues to model to represent people like her who do not fit conventional beauty standards.
“There are still models who are like eight foot two and skinny but now people with disabilities or differences are featured more in the media and this is great – but it should be normal,” she said in the interview.
“Maybe because I cannot see everything properly, I focus more on people’s voices and what they have to say,” she explained. “So their inner beauty is more important to me,” she added.
Xueli hopes to make a difference by raising awareness about albinism. “I want to use modeling to talk about albinism and say it’s a genetic disorder, it’s not a curse,” she said. “The way to talk about it is to say ‘a person with albinism’ because being ‘an albino’ sounds as if it defines who you are.”
She’s determined to create change. “I’m not going to accept that children are being murdered because of their albinism. I want to change the world,” she declared.
We wish Xueli Abbing great success in her journey and believe she will continue to inspire and educate people around the globe.
