By Anna on 30 April, 2010
I’m very sorry to learn of the death of Harry Wielder, a community activist in NY around LGBT rights, transportation, and disability. This article at Gothamist has more [WARNING: Comments are a mess]: Weider, 57, described himself on his Facebook page as a “disabled, gay, Jewish, leftist, middle aged dwarf who ambulates with crutches.” … [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged obituary
By Anna on 30 April, 2010
I’m still learning about De’VIA, as my particular studies are in nineteenth century d/Deafness. What I like about what I’ve seen is looking at art that is not only explicitly political, but is explicitly about being Deaf. In Toronto, the current exhibit is paintings of Sign Language.
Posted in creative work, disability activism, identity, language | Tagged art, artwork, De'VIA, Deaf, identity, media and pop culture
By s.e. smith on 30 April, 2010
Warning: Offsite links are not necessarily safe spaces. Articles and comments in the links may contain ableist, sexist, and other -ist language and ideas of varying intensity. Opinions expressed in the articles may not reflect the opinions held by the compiler of the post and links are provided as topics of interest and exploration only. [...]
Posted in recommended reading | Tagged bipolar disorder, disability on television, immigration, interdependence, medical practice, psychiatrisation, race, racism, representations, women, women's rights
By Guest on 30 April, 2010
If you are at all interested in Disability Studies (DS), I strongly recommend this book. I felt like I had a kind, clear teacher and friend leading me by the hand through basic and advanced concepts in DS, especially relating to feminism and ethics. It is the most accessible and worthwhile academic text I’ve ever read– I don’t have a good track record for reading non-fiction books or textbooks, and I was riveted to this book. Partly this is because The Rejected Body speaks so directly to my own life experience as a person with a chronic illness. Susan Wendell also has a chronic illness, ME/CFS, which is what led her into DS from Women’s Studies.
Posted in bodies, books, identity, life changes, representations
By s.e. smith on 29 April, 2010
When I was in fourth grade, we had a class game. Each one of us had to bring in a photo from when we were very young and the photos were laid out in a grid on the wall. Each photo had a number, and students had to guess which photo went with which classmate [...]
Posted in bodies, feminism, gender, social attitudes | Tagged policing
By abby jean on 29 April, 2010
Reminder: Blogging Against Disablism Day is coming up on May 1. Diary of a Goldfish has hosted BADD since 2006. It’s an awesome blogswarm, and it’s this Saturday. You can participate by spreading the word, making your own post, commenting on people’s posts, and/or linking posts for others. </ stolen from anna> It has been [...]
Posted in accessibility
By Anna on 29 April, 2010
Food restrictions are pretty common for people with disabilities. A friend of mine discovered her chronic pain and fatigue was influenced, at least in part, by her wheat allergy, and described at length to me the perils of “hidden wheat” in things like Twizzlers, which is a brand of red liquorish available in North America. Another gets flair-ups if she thinks about stepping away from her gluten-free diet. Some people have serious allergies to corn, and must avoid any and all things with corn and high-fructose corn syrup. There are very specific diets required for people on certain types of medications, with certain types of short-term and long-term medical conditions, people with diabetes, and people preparing for types of surgeries. Many people recovering from Cancer treatments, surgery, or eating disorders, as well as people on certain types of medications that cause dramatic weight loss, are pushed (or required) to consume those “nutritional shakes” or other forms of meal replacements.
Posted in bodies, class issues, introspective, life changes, politics
By s.e. smith on 28 April, 2010
The 24 April edition of Dear Abby led with this letter: Dear Abby: I am an average 17-year-old girl with a big problem. A few days ago, my cousin’s boyfriend touched me inappropriately. It took a few seconds for me to realize what was happening and stop him. I got up and left the room. [...]
Posted in Dear Imprudence, feminism | Tagged Abigail Van Buren, Dear Abby, Jeanne Phillips, rape, sexual assault, words mean things
By Guest on 28 April, 2010
Matthew’s accomplishments are not notable in this article: only his disabilities. I’m not quoting or going through the whole article because the able privilege is so dense. The first line is indicative of the attitude taken in the article: Matthew doesn’t “bemoan”, unlike those other people with disabilities who would surely be champion athletes if they just tried. The construction is an ableist implication that other folks with disabilities are lazy whiners. Throughout the article, every reference to barriers Matthew faced is immediately matched by emphasis on how he overcame this disability. The focus is not on his exceptional effort and achievements, but on the “heartwarming” “good cripple”.
Posted in bodies, media and pop culture, news, normality, othering, representations, social attitudes
Crowd Sourcing Counter-Arguments: You’re Easily Offended and People with Disabilities Can’t Act Anyway
By Anna on 30 April, 2010
If you have the time/energy/inclination to do so, please join in the comments there to counter these arguments. I ask because I hope, sincerely, that if there is a discussion right there that takes on this oft-repeated belief that disabled people are just not able to act or perform in any way, or that what we are is “easily offended” rather than pointing out a problematic form of discrimination, maybe drive-by comments repeating it over and over will stop.
Posted in From the comments