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The author pictured with their glitter cane. Follow them on IG @alainaskeys

Learning To Love My Sparkly Purple Cane

I’ve walked the line between visibly and invisibly disabled my entire life.

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I am not in the demographic you might assume for someone who needs hearing aids: I’m 30, I’m a writer and performer, and I play roller derby.

Why I’m Getting Purple Hearing Aids Instead Of Ones That Will Blend In

This assumption that I would want to hide my hearing aids always feels to me like a hint that I should be embarrassed by my disability — but I have no intention of keeping it a secret.

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"The only realistic way for me to deal with the contradiction between thick thighs that suggest mental wellness and the perpetual self doubt that offers an attenuate implosion is to welcome the contradiction with open arms."

"Black Women Don't Get Depressed."

I wanted to look as white and non-threatening as possible because the invisibility of my disability in conjunction with the vulnerability of being a Black woman was absolutely unbearable.

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"The only realistic way for me to deal with the contradiction between thick thighs that suggest mental wellness and the perpetual self doubt that offers an attenuate implosion is to welcome the contradiction with open arms."

"Black Women Don't Get Depressed."

I wanted to look as white and non-threatening as possible because the invisibility of my disability in conjunction with the vulnerability of being a Black woman was absolutely unbearable.

Read...
I am not in the demographic you might assume for someone who needs hearing aids: I’m 30, I’m a writer and performer, and I play roller derby.

Why I’m Getting Purple Hearing Aids Instead Of Ones That Will Blend In

This assumption that I would want to hide my hearing aids always feels to me like a hint that I should be embarrassed by my disability — but I have no intention of keeping it a secret.

Read...
The author pictured with their glitter cane. Follow them on IG @alainaskeys

Learning To Love My Sparkly Purple Cane

I’ve walked the line between visibly and invisibly disabled my entire life.

Read...

PCOS And The Pressure To Perform Womanhood — Even If You Aren't A Woman

I stand in the bathroom for six hours.

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image credit: Mariah Aro Sharp @mightymooseart

How “Getting Healthy” Can Become An Eating Disorder

One day I was “healthy” and the next day I was sick — slowly and then all at once.

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