Beauty

The prejudice and marginalization Chloé feels as a result of her disability in large part inspires the author’s explorations regarding beauty throughout the memoir. Born with sacral agenesis, Chloé has become familiar with the ways in which others perceive, judge, and discredit her. Outwardly, Chloé’s body does not look like other bodies. In Chapter 1, she explains that because of her condition, her feet “are underdeveloped and disproportionate to the rest of my body,” her spine “is curved,” and her “hip joints are misaligned and unstable” (17). As a result of these atypicalities, Chloé is not only made to feel different, but worthless and incapable. In turn, she internalizes these notions and therefore struggles to regard her own beauty. Her body feels like a burden, rather than simply a different way of being in the world.

Chloé’s travels throughout Italy further her internal considerations about what it...