#hospitalglam

[arctic-hands]

It's time to get the show on

[Image Description: a selfie of me, wide-eyed, in a hospital gown, mask, and in a hospital bed. End I.D.]

[sycamore-seedling]

[ID: A dark skinned person standing in a single serve bathroom. They wear a green and blue beanie and plaid button down under a denim jacket with black pants. Their dark blue polka dot mask only leaves the eyes visible. A tan bag hangs off their shoulder.

/EndID]

alright, back to the diagnostic grindstone...wish me luck things work out!

(they/he pls)

[recalledrobot]

taking up space at the specialist

i think this was my first time sitting in the doctor’s chair and honestly? power

[annieelainey]

I've been thinking about the pressure to perform disability and the prejudice that forces us to do it.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ My body (not my conscious mind, but my BODY) gets so anxious before any medical appointment; because of this nauseating, heart pounding feeling AND because medical appointments are so expensive, I avoid them now as much as I can. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I just deal with all my symptoms untreated and survive each day one day at a time because healthcare is just obstacle after obstacle.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ But the very first obstacle is doctors believing your pain and fluid symptoms in the first place. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ If I make it into a medical appointment, I'm stable enough to get myself there, this means the doctor does not get to see me at my worst... no one ever does tbh.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ When I get ready for a doctor's appointment I struggle with how put together I should look; I think, "If my hair is neat, my make up is done, and I wear something loud and colorful, they might not be inclined to help me because of the prejudice that I don't "look" sick. But if I go to my appointment in my pajamas and messy... I might face the prejudice of "not trying hard enough to get better"⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Knowing that doctors have these prejudices and having experienced them makes it so hard for me to even get out the door. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Performing disability in a way that adheres to the prejudice of others often feels necessary in order to be taken seriously. I go back and forth, and often land somewhere that feels in the middle, I am not wearing my pajamas but I'm not wearing anything too loud either. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I can't wait for the day that general ableist ideas about disability are diluted and instead people understood that disability can look and behave so many different ways. Being fashionable and confident does not negate disability; I'm so tired of the anxiety and feeling like I have to water down my style and personality just for my medical and access needs. Water down ableism instead! #HospitalGlam #TheFutureIsAccessible⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ [Image Description: Annie wearing a colorful face mask, blue jeans, white shirt, and army green jacket in a hospital examination room]⁣ (at Miami, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9rf8T_gr2i/?igshid=13wsr6px2a9ci

[rapeculturerealities]

#HospitalGlam Pulls Back the Curtain on Disability and Beauty

Karolyn Gehrig is referring to both healthcare’s status as a luxury good, and the way traditional poses of illness are used to sell health and beauty back to us.

Doctor’s offices and hospital rooms aren’t the first locations that come to mind when we think about “glamour.” After all, glamour is often associated with both beauty and health, and there has long been a disconnect between these concepts and medical offices, ongoing treatment, and disability. Los Angeles–based artist Karolyn Gehrig is working to change the relationship between glamour and disability through her hashtag #HospitalGlam. In 2014, as Gehrig navigated a downturn in her health—as well as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder that targets connective tissue—she began taking striking photos of herself during medical appointments. Gehrig uses her phone’s camera, carefully chosen outfits, items found in the medical space, and poses influenced by fashion photography to capture unglamorous moments.

By providing a way for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses to represent themselves within what Gehrig terms “an often alienating medical environment,” #HospitalGlam encourages chronically ill and disabled people to reclaim a photographic gaze that has often been used against us. Any person with a chronic illness or disability can contribute to #HospitalGlam, as long as they abide by the rules that Gehrig has created for the project. For instance, the photo must show the person in a clinical environment—a doctor’s office or medical office—not in the bathroom or in the car on the way to an appointment. #HospitalGlam has become a rallying cry over the past five years as other chronically ill and disabled people have used the hashtag to share their own images. Currently, there are more than 8,000 posts on Instagram that use the hashtag. I spoke with Gehrig about how #HospitalGlam takes glamour in a much-needed direction.

read more

[alpine-kitten]

Some #hospitalglam for yous.

[karolynprg]

When I talk about #Hospitalglam, and healthcare being a luxury good, I’m referencing the absurdity of needing to pay down necessary procedures and treatments for years, through collections, making the worst bargains, because the other option is giving our LIFE. Not the social or perceived life, which we give anyway to illness, but our beating heart. We get layaway plans and collection plans and things to keep us under the water but gasping for that life we might have again. Beauty sells our bodies back to us, at a premium none of us can afford. Through creating our own images; through recreating the visibility of disabling illness, we can take the reigns even from our gurneys. Fuck this Shit let us live https://www.instagram.com/karolynprg/p/Bvz9iADHL2I/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rnqoylqw5i3o

[mortreport]

some (most) days, the doctor isn’t worth the effort required to get your meatcage out of bed, dressed, and to the hospital. guess i made the right call when i wore the middle finger dress. gynecologist/surgeon referred me to a hematologist to figure out more about my factor V mutation, which is a blood disorder that causes hypercoagulation (AKA increased likelihood of clots.) this doctor was brusque, too busy talking to do any kind of listening, and groped me without warning on the way out (oh, sorry, he was “checking my lymph nodes.”) some days you’re just too tired to make a big deal about it - and those days are when it’s good to have someone like @derekthevet in the room with you. (“uh, does the doctor usually bodily grope patients without their permission?” he asked the nurse. “i didn’t even notice, so...” she replied. that’s a yes.) back in bed now because being chronically ill in our fucked up medical system makes me so exhausted i can barely explain. #chronicillness #ehlersdanlossyndrome #ehlersdanlos #chronicpain #hospitalglam #chronicallyfabulous #model #modeling #ootd (at Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrWOST6nE7q/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3pg40c3oyxst