Alyssa C Davis
@alyssacdavis.bsky.social
Feminist, queer, disability scholar-creator with theatre-kid flare.
📝 Chronic illness, cults & capitalism = my anti-hero origin story.
I write for complicated humans navigating care & power 🌱 Loudly alive in the gray areas
📝 Chronic illness, cults & capitalism = my anti-hero origin story.
I write for complicated humans navigating care & power 🌱 Loudly alive in the gray areas
Pinned
Alyssa C Davis
@alyssacdavis.bsky.social
· Aug 28
Notes from a body that won’t perform on command
From “do the most” to “do one kind thing.”
open.substack.com
My body won’t “perform” on command.
That’s not a personal failure; it’s data about an ableist world. I wrote about what it’s like living in this body/mind.
Read here: open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
That’s not a personal failure; it’s data about an ableist world. I wrote about what it’s like living in this body/mind.
Read here: open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
“Good shit takes time. Extend time, bend time, crip time.”
— Alice Wong (Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life)
— Alice Wong (Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life)
November 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
“Good shit takes time. Extend time, bend time, crip time.”
— Alice Wong (Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life)
— Alice Wong (Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life)
25th rising creator in health politics on Substack, and I didn’t even have to blame Tylenol to do it! 😇
substack.com/@alyssacdavi... #rfkjr
substack.com/@alyssacdavi... #rfkjr
November 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
25th rising creator in health politics on Substack, and I didn’t even have to blame Tylenol to do it! 😇
substack.com/@alyssacdavi... #rfkjr
substack.com/@alyssacdavi... #rfkjr
The starving artist metaphor never quite worked. It suggested we were just underfed, overlooked, waiting for our chance.
But we’re not starving anymore.
We’re the meal.
open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
But we’re not starving anymore.
We’re the meal.
open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
November 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The starving artist metaphor never quite worked. It suggested we were just underfed, overlooked, waiting for our chance.
But we’re not starving anymore.
We’re the meal.
open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
But we’re not starving anymore.
We’re the meal.
open.substack.com/pub/alyssacd...
Chronic pain is frustrating because you don’t really “get used to it” but you also can’t be shocked by it every day.
So you end up in this weird middle place: not okay, not surprised, still having to function inside a body that’s actively negotiating with fire.
So you end up in this weird middle place: not okay, not surprised, still having to function inside a body that’s actively negotiating with fire.
November 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Chronic pain is frustrating because you don’t really “get used to it” but you also can’t be shocked by it every day.
So you end up in this weird middle place: not okay, not surprised, still having to function inside a body that’s actively negotiating with fire.
So you end up in this weird middle place: not okay, not surprised, still having to function inside a body that’s actively negotiating with fire.
Carceral feminism reaches for police, prisons & punishment as “solutions” to gendered violence.
Intersectional feminism asks who gets policed, who is believed by the courts, who profits from prison labor.
Intersectional feminism asks who gets policed, who is believed by the courts, who profits from prison labor.
November 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Carceral feminism reaches for police, prisons & punishment as “solutions” to gendered violence.
Intersectional feminism asks who gets policed, who is believed by the courts, who profits from prison labor.
Intersectional feminism asks who gets policed, who is believed by the courts, who profits from prison labor.
Holding grief & gratitude for Alice Wong.
for every story she amplified, every syllabus she reshaped, every young (and not-so-young) disabled person who saw themselves reflected in her work.
May we honor her by carrying forward her organizing principle: access is love.
for every story she amplified, every syllabus she reshaped, every young (and not-so-young) disabled person who saw themselves reflected in her work.
May we honor her by carrying forward her organizing principle: access is love.
November 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Holding grief & gratitude for Alice Wong.
for every story she amplified, every syllabus she reshaped, every young (and not-so-young) disabled person who saw themselves reflected in her work.
May we honor her by carrying forward her organizing principle: access is love.
for every story she amplified, every syllabus she reshaped, every young (and not-so-young) disabled person who saw themselves reflected in her work.
May we honor her by carrying forward her organizing principle: access is love.
Your pronouns are valid on days you’re too tired to correct people. Legitimacy shouldn’t hinge on your stamina to self-advocate.
November 6, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Your pronouns are valid on days you’re too tired to correct people. Legitimacy shouldn’t hinge on your stamina to self-advocate.
“Invisible illness” isn’t invisible to gatekeepers. Not when
—you need a prior authorization
—an attendance policy exists
—pre-existing conditions = denial
—early-refills get blocked
—the VA/SSA “rates” your disability
Invisible to care, hyper-visible to bureaucracy. 📝
—you need a prior authorization
—an attendance policy exists
—pre-existing conditions = denial
—early-refills get blocked
—the VA/SSA “rates” your disability
Invisible to care, hyper-visible to bureaucracy. 📝
November 6, 2025 at 11:36 PM
“Invisible illness” isn’t invisible to gatekeepers. Not when
—you need a prior authorization
—an attendance policy exists
—pre-existing conditions = denial
—early-refills get blocked
—the VA/SSA “rates” your disability
Invisible to care, hyper-visible to bureaucracy. 📝
—you need a prior authorization
—an attendance policy exists
—pre-existing conditions = denial
—early-refills get blocked
—the VA/SSA “rates” your disability
Invisible to care, hyper-visible to bureaucracy. 📝
Reposted by Alyssa C Davis
Autistic ways of saying “I love you” (that you might miss):
- “I researched your problem. Here are your options”
- “I made a spreadsheet/ list/ plan to help you”
- being ourselves around you (infodumping, not masking etc)
- “Here’s a meme that I think you’d like”
#AutismAwareness
- “I researched your problem. Here are your options”
- “I made a spreadsheet/ list/ plan to help you”
- being ourselves around you (infodumping, not masking etc)
- “Here’s a meme that I think you’d like”
#AutismAwareness
November 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Autistic ways of saying “I love you” (that you might miss):
- “I researched your problem. Here are your options”
- “I made a spreadsheet/ list/ plan to help you”
- being ourselves around you (infodumping, not masking etc)
- “Here’s a meme that I think you’d like”
#AutismAwareness
- “I researched your problem. Here are your options”
- “I made a spreadsheet/ list/ plan to help you”
- being ourselves around you (infodumping, not masking etc)
- “Here’s a meme that I think you’d like”
#AutismAwareness
Reposted by Alyssa C Davis
When people talk about the excesses of MeToo, they have to lie, because the reality is that there was no massive social reckoning forcing people to believe survivors or hold perpetrators accountable. In fact, there has been a significant backsliding and new punishments in rejection of MeToo
November 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
When people talk about the excesses of MeToo, they have to lie, because the reality is that there was no massive social reckoning forcing people to believe survivors or hold perpetrators accountable. In fact, there has been a significant backsliding and new punishments in rejection of MeToo
Reposted by Alyssa C Davis
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.
November 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.
What if the most supportive thing we can do
is refuse to rush our becoming? 🌱
To stretch time
like skin over a drum
and let it sound
with the ache of all we’re still unfolding into?
is refuse to rush our becoming? 🌱
To stretch time
like skin over a drum
and let it sound
with the ache of all we’re still unfolding into?
November 6, 2025 at 11:01 AM
What if the most supportive thing we can do
is refuse to rush our becoming? 🌱
To stretch time
like skin over a drum
and let it sound
with the ache of all we’re still unfolding into?
is refuse to rush our becoming? 🌱
To stretch time
like skin over a drum
and let it sound
with the ache of all we’re still unfolding into?
me during the thinning of the veil: *sobbing over a leaf* *texting my dead grandmother* *knowing things I shouldn't know* *eating soup*
it's called balance 🍂
it's called balance 🍂
November 6, 2025 at 3:35 AM
me during the thinning of the veil: *sobbing over a leaf* *texting my dead grandmother* *knowing things I shouldn't know* *eating soup*
it's called balance 🍂
it's called balance 🍂
Reposted by Alyssa C Davis
Internalized shame makes you believe that asking for help is a burden.
That needing accommodation is an inconvenience.
That your pain isn't "bad enough" to deserve attention.
This is what ableism does. It convinces you that your humanity is negotiable. 🫂
That needing accommodation is an inconvenience.
That your pain isn't "bad enough" to deserve attention.
This is what ableism does. It convinces you that your humanity is negotiable. 🫂
November 5, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Internalized shame makes you believe that asking for help is a burden.
That needing accommodation is an inconvenience.
That your pain isn't "bad enough" to deserve attention.
This is what ableism does. It convinces you that your humanity is negotiable. 🫂
That needing accommodation is an inconvenience.
That your pain isn't "bad enough" to deserve attention.
This is what ableism does. It convinces you that your humanity is negotiable. 🫂
Boundaries + compassion = the architecture of belonging.
Without both, inclusion collapses into performative niceness or porous burnout. Build wisely, love fiercely. 💜
Without both, inclusion collapses into performative niceness or porous burnout. Build wisely, love fiercely. 💜
November 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Boundaries + compassion = the architecture of belonging.
Without both, inclusion collapses into performative niceness or porous burnout. Build wisely, love fiercely. 💜
Without both, inclusion collapses into performative niceness or porous burnout. Build wisely, love fiercely. 💜
dear academia:
I am not a machine with an intellect.
I am a constellation of experiences…many of them emotional, all of them sacred to my learning process. 📚
I am not a machine with an intellect.
I am a constellation of experiences…many of them emotional, all of them sacred to my learning process. 📚
November 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
dear academia:
I am not a machine with an intellect.
I am a constellation of experiences…many of them emotional, all of them sacred to my learning process. 📚
I am not a machine with an intellect.
I am a constellation of experiences…many of them emotional, all of them sacred to my learning process. 📚
Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. — James Baldwin
November 1, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. — James Baldwin
What haunts isn’t random.
It’s patterned.
Ghosts appear where systems fail and wounds fester—
in histories of slavery, colonialism, gender violence, state terror.
(ghostly matters, Avery F Gordon)
It’s patterned.
Ghosts appear where systems fail and wounds fester—
in histories of slavery, colonialism, gender violence, state terror.
(ghostly matters, Avery F Gordon)
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 AM
What haunts isn’t random.
It’s patterned.
Ghosts appear where systems fail and wounds fester—
in histories of slavery, colonialism, gender violence, state terror.
(ghostly matters, Avery F Gordon)
It’s patterned.
Ghosts appear where systems fail and wounds fester—
in histories of slavery, colonialism, gender violence, state terror.
(ghostly matters, Avery F Gordon)
Disability justice is also about who gets to imagine themselves as sensual.
The constructed, temporarily-abled body is a ghost that haunts our discussions of sexuality. It dictates which bodies are “fit” for love, lust, & reproduction. We must challenge this cultural, political fiction.
The constructed, temporarily-abled body is a ghost that haunts our discussions of sexuality. It dictates which bodies are “fit” for love, lust, & reproduction. We must challenge this cultural, political fiction.
October 30, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Disability justice is also about who gets to imagine themselves as sensual.
The constructed, temporarily-abled body is a ghost that haunts our discussions of sexuality. It dictates which bodies are “fit” for love, lust, & reproduction. We must challenge this cultural, political fiction.
The constructed, temporarily-abled body is a ghost that haunts our discussions of sexuality. It dictates which bodies are “fit” for love, lust, & reproduction. We must challenge this cultural, political fiction.
As scholar Kath Weston wrote, "Kinship is not always given; it is often achieved." Our chosen families are meticulous works of art, forged by intention, loyalty, and fierce love. I’m grateful for every Auntie, friend, and sister who has chosen us into existence.
October 29, 2025 at 11:02 AM
As scholar Kath Weston wrote, "Kinship is not always given; it is often achieved." Our chosen families are meticulous works of art, forged by intention, loyalty, and fierce love. I’m grateful for every Auntie, friend, and sister who has chosen us into existence.
The physical, psychological & pocketbook costs of late diagnosis can be staggering.
Treating advanced chronic illness is always more complex & expensive. 💲
Early detection may help avoid years of confusion, mismanaged symptoms & even irreversible damage.
Treating advanced chronic illness is always more complex & expensive. 💲
Early detection may help avoid years of confusion, mismanaged symptoms & even irreversible damage.
October 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
The physical, psychological & pocketbook costs of late diagnosis can be staggering.
Treating advanced chronic illness is always more complex & expensive. 💲
Early detection may help avoid years of confusion, mismanaged symptoms & even irreversible damage.
Treating advanced chronic illness is always more complex & expensive. 💲
Early detection may help avoid years of confusion, mismanaged symptoms & even irreversible damage.
The flu benched me for 5 days, inflammatory arthritis rearranged my whole fucking calendar.
Acute illness gets a finish line (an antibiotic, a sick day, soup). Chronic illness often gets a spreadsheet: doses, flares & insurance portals with 17 tabs. 🤕
Acute illness gets a finish line (an antibiotic, a sick day, soup). Chronic illness often gets a spreadsheet: doses, flares & insurance portals with 17 tabs. 🤕
October 27, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The flu benched me for 5 days, inflammatory arthritis rearranged my whole fucking calendar.
Acute illness gets a finish line (an antibiotic, a sick day, soup). Chronic illness often gets a spreadsheet: doses, flares & insurance portals with 17 tabs. 🤕
Acute illness gets a finish line (an antibiotic, a sick day, soup). Chronic illness often gets a spreadsheet: doses, flares & insurance portals with 17 tabs. 🤕
I didn’t find the first realistic plan for my illness on PubMed.
It found me in a group chat: a ride-share spreadsheet, side effect complaints & recommendations on compression socks.
These sideways networks keep up alive. That’s the architecture of disability liberation.
It found me in a group chat: a ride-share spreadsheet, side effect complaints & recommendations on compression socks.
These sideways networks keep up alive. That’s the architecture of disability liberation.
October 26, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I didn’t find the first realistic plan for my illness on PubMed.
It found me in a group chat: a ride-share spreadsheet, side effect complaints & recommendations on compression socks.
These sideways networks keep up alive. That’s the architecture of disability liberation.
It found me in a group chat: a ride-share spreadsheet, side effect complaints & recommendations on compression socks.
These sideways networks keep up alive. That’s the architecture of disability liberation.
8:03 a.m., my smart speaker chirps in a perky femme voice.
We’re so used to these machines being eager to apologize, serve & obey.
Feminist scholars call this the perpetuation of the “servile female” stereotype in the digital realm.
We’re so used to these machines being eager to apologize, serve & obey.
Feminist scholars call this the perpetuation of the “servile female” stereotype in the digital realm.
October 26, 2025 at 7:17 AM
8:03 a.m., my smart speaker chirps in a perky femme voice.
We’re so used to these machines being eager to apologize, serve & obey.
Feminist scholars call this the perpetuation of the “servile female” stereotype in the digital realm.
We’re so used to these machines being eager to apologize, serve & obey.
Feminist scholars call this the perpetuation of the “servile female” stereotype in the digital realm.