Growing up in the Bahamas, Alyssa was teased for being light-skinned. When she later moved to the United States, she found that the same trait was suddenly viewed as desirable. At a young age, she became aware of how dramatically beauty standards can change depending on culture. Living with an underlying disability only complicated how she understood her body within those shifting expectations.

While in college, Alyssa was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a hereditary connective tissue disorder that affects the joints and organs. Everyday activities often caused her pain, and she struggled to keep pace with what was considered “normal” college life. Jokes about her having the body of someone much older reflected a deeper disconnect between how she felt and how others perceived her.

Contemporary media overwhelmingly promotes images of bodies that are fit, healthy, and endlessly capable. Disabled and chronically ill bodies are rarely represented as complex, attractive, or whole. When they are visible, they are often reduced to spectacle or explanation. Alyssa regularly encounters stares or questions when she wears braces to support her joints, but she chooses to use those moments to educate rather than retreat.

Alyssa’s story challenges narrow ideas of beauty and ability, revealing how bodies that fall outside the ideal are not broken, but excluded.