michelle zacarias — just femme & dandy

losing my leg and finding my footing

michelle zacarias

I lost my leg when I was 9-years-old, which is honestly a terrible age to become an amputee.

Not that there is necessarily an “ideal” moment to lose a fourth of your body, but at 9-years-old I was still learning so much about my “brand” and identity. Was I an alternative chick? Was I a tomboy or was I defying gender norms because I was very gay? Was I the artsy nerd who took down her ponytail and took off her glasses to then become an overnight prom queen? Could I be the beloved “hot Cheeto” girl who rocked oversized hoops and Cookie Monster pajama pants - successfully setting the bar for peak 2000’s middle school aesthetics?

I was none of that. I was an awkward pre-pubescent Latina girl who was one leg short of having a shot at being popular.

about the author

Michelle is a light skinned Latina woman in her late twenties with long dark black hair flipped to one side and sharp prominent eyebrows. Her face is posed through a puffy gold cloth ring attached to the wrist and elbow of a purple scaley sleeve she is wearing on her left arm. She has an identical design on her right arm, which is held lower across the chest and stomach area of her body. She is wearing a glittery purple see-through bodysuit with gold lining near the crotch and underarm area. Around her neck is a long purple chainmail necklace. Her makeup includes aheavy blue paint overlining her top lip with a purple “fang-like” design on the bottom lip. There is a solid black dot between her top lip and nose. Under her eyes there is a thin black design that resembles a butterfly’s wings.

Michelle Zacarias is an award-winning writer and adjunct instructor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Born and raised in Chicago, Michelle currently resides in Southern California. As a queer disabled Latina she is passionate about issues surrounding accessibility, abolition and topics impacting marginalized communities. She has previously written for Teen Vogue, CALO News, The Triibe, City Bureau, People’s World, and more. In 2018, Michellewas awarded the Saul Miller Excellence in Journalism Award and in 2020 she was inducted into Chicago’s LGBT Hall of Fame for her contributions to the field. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and her Masters in Studies of Law from USC Gould School of Law.