Remember, Remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot!
Happy Guy Fawkes Day, UK-folks!
Via SpiralSheep: Feminist Spoons
Friends and family are aware enough of my health problems to understand when I have to cancel things, or rearrange them. But these days, I am much less involved in feminist activism than I ever have been.
This is definitely spoon-related, and also directly related to my main local feminist group meeting in an inaccessible venue for so long that I gave up arguing with them about it. (They now meet somewhere which may be accessible, but they’re not sure. I feel so thoroughly disenamoured with them that I’m not willing to test it out).
But I have also found that while individual feminists can be very understanding with my lack of spoons on a day-to-day basis, it sometimes seems less acceptable when it interferes with my ability to attend actions, protests and meetings.
Sick Bodies: Health Care and the Body-As-Machine
But, more fundamentally, I find it problematic that the entire set up of a hospital is about the production of health care, not the recipients of that care. Long after being shuffled into a room filled with equipment and posters not designed with my challenging body in mind, and as I watched the doctor treating me struggle to find words beyond, “Well, I’ve not actually met anybody who has done that,” I wondered seriously about what could possibly be done to fix a system that has so little respect for the bodies of the individuals it treats.
We all carry our scars, surgeries, allergies, broken bones, memories, genetics, blood, hopes, and guts with us wherever we go. We are stunning in our uniqueness, and our bodies are the seat of who we are. Of course, we all have the same basic parts, but I wouldn’t take a car to any old mechanic or my pet to any vet—I want someone who understands the particular quirks of my engine or that my cat needs to be coaxed gently out of her hiding spot.
In the news:
Politics are Crippling State-funded Services to the Disabled [US] [long]
This week, Meyer’s 16-year struggle for a productive life will become more difficult. Scheduled California budget cuts will increase the deductible some low-income disabled people must pay for workers from the In-Home Supportive Services program. The cost hike may leave him with as little as $600 a month to live on, pushing him closer to the point where he’s forced to enter a nursing home. “I just want to be able to stay here, live a healthy life, and be a productive citizen,” he says.
Lawsuit filed against school district:
The suit contends S.G.’s May 2007 Individual Education Program was never modified and he was “unilaterally removed from his ‘inclusion’ classes without notice to (his parents) solely as a result of disability in December 2007 and in direct violation of his IEP.”
The suit also claims S.G. was placed in a more restrictive environment when removed him from his inclusion classes, “caused negative cognitive and social effects as well as mental anguish.”
Moreover, S.G., who has an allergy to milk and soy products, was given them on a daily basis during the 2007-08 school year.
These links are to images that belong to Getty Images, so I’m just going to link to their site rather than post them here. I cannot speak for how accessible their website is, though.
They are shots of wheelchair-using athletes “finishing in the wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon”.
It’s not really helpful, I guess, but I’m so angry on behalf of those kids from the last article, and every kid who’s had to deal with harassment at school and/or been refused basic accommodations. Why is there so much cruelty endemic to a system that is supposed to be educating and protecting young people?
.-= Laughingrat´s last blog ..Knitting and colonialism =-.
That last article is horrible. Those poor kids.
…relatedly, this probably goes without saying but for the love of god do not read the comments. I went there looking for fellow outrage (I have no idea why, my logical deduction skills are usually better than that!) and do I ever regret it.
.-= Kaz´s last blog ..You are now looking at an Officially Official Aspie (TM) =-.
Just wanted to point out a lot of people think Guy Fawkes Day is rather anti-Catholic. I know it wasn’t your intent to offend but some of us are a little uncomfortable hearing well-wishes for the day.
I have never heard that before.
I’m sorry. (I went and googled it – lots of stuff comes up when you look for guy fawkes anti-catholic.)
Thanks for the links to those photos.
.-= Cesy´s last blog ..Science (Stargate SG-1 ficlet) =-.