One Woman Gets Real About What It's Like To Live With Dwarfism

Here's a friendly reminder for anyone who finds themselves gaping at someone who may be physically different from what's considered the "societal norm": Don't.

Sofiya Cheyenne knows something about getting stares. She was born with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a type of dwarfism that affects the cartilage in between her joints. At an inch over four feet, Cheyenne says she gets many invasive looks from strangers as she goes about her day. One super rude man she encountered on the street once got so caught up, he walked into a pole.

So now she's making it her goal to educate people about her condition.

"It's shocking and I get that," she says about her disorder in the video above from Refinery 29. "But I would rather someone take a moment to ask me a question or just reach out than to just stare."

Cheyenne says her skeletal disorder puts her through a lot of medical and social difficulties -- but she refuses to let it define her life.

"I'm also a person and I have feelings," she said. "Height is nothing to me. It's really nothing. All it is, is a measurement."

We couldn't agree more. Check out the Refinery29 video above to learn more about Cheyenne's story.

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