On Policing Disability

I can voluntarily pop my joints out of socket. Doctors are often skeptics, especially if you’re a woman or similarly marginalized individual, so if I need visible proof regarding my body’s issues, this is how I pacify their gaze. An offering: You can see it, I swear!

Usually the joint-popping happens involuntarily; sometimes, there are many painful subluxations a day. To add to it, my skin bleeds and bruises too much. My stomach leaves me bedridden, my retinas are prone to ripping, my heart beats too faintly; sometimes, I pass out.