It is radical to love a body that the world says is wrong – and I love mine completely

This body is a genetic mistake, a pitiable stare, the scan on a mundane Tuesday lunchtime with a doctor speaking in hushed tones by the bed.

It is glorious too, thanks. It is deep-in-the-bones laughter at 2am with people who love you; only strangers care that it is sitting in a wheelchair while doing so (“Have you got a licence for that thing, sweetheart?”). It is straight-As, promotions and beating expectations as much as the odds. It is being buckled over from the pain, clutching a public toilet bowl, pills and dignity rattling at the bottom of a handbag. It is sex, fevered goosebumps and kisses to the skin like magic. It is warm summers with friends, sunshine on bare legs and 90s dance music ricocheting through the air. It is fucking knackered.

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Sunak to force English universities to cap numbers of students on ‘low-value’ degrees

Exclusive: Move penalises courses with a high proportion of working-class or minority…

A place to grow: the gardener and land owner pairings making happy unions and plenty of produce

People keen to garden but who have no outdoor space of their…

ECB’s statistical spin hides the fact that Joe Root was sunk as England captain | Barney Ronay

A nice person and an all-time great batsman but after 64 Tests…