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Posts by Guest
By Guest on 30 July, 2010
Jesse the K hopes you can take a disabled feminist to tea this month. I’d hoped to have a delicious thinky post about the difference 20 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act has made for the world, the nation, the state, and me. Meditating on those topics proved so depressing I didn’t even leave [...]
Posted in accessibility, activism, guest post, identity, introspective, life changes | Tagged ableism, advocacy, assistive technology, human rights, impairment, legalities, memoir, wheelchair
By Guest on 17 May, 2010
Like every ism, ableism is absorbed through the culture on a more subconscious level, embedding itself in our language like a guerrilla force. Crazy is one of the most versatile and frequently used slurs, a
word used sometimes directly against persons with mental disabilities (PWMD), sometimes indirectly against persons with able privilege, sometimes descriptive and value-neutral, and sometimes in a superficially positive light.
Posted in Ableist Word Profile, guest post, language, mental health, social attitudes
By Guest on 12 May, 2010
In no way do I wish to posit mentally ill people who can manage without medication as “not disabled enough”. But at the same time I wish to dispel the notion that those who take medication are weak and buying into the overmedication advocated by some in the psychiatric establishment. There should be no shame in how you decide to manage your mental illness. Some can get by with talk therapy and vigilant self-care, others survive on occasional medication when symptoms get out of control, and still others may be on medication for the majority of their lives. We should not assign a stigma above and beyond the stigma of being mentally ill to those who are unable to manage their illness without meds.
Posted in blaming, guest post, mental health, shaming, social attitudes
By Guest on 10 May, 2010
I love it when well-meaning able-bodied people try to pimp their technology at me because hey, they just got this new gadget, and it’s accessible, isn’t that cool? I should get one!
No. No it is not, and no I will not, and I am getting progressively less and less polite about this. Like the random dude this morning who was all, “my GPS talks, you should get one!”
Posted in accessibility, social attitudes, technology
By Guest on 3 May, 2010
Alida Brill first landed on the “other planet” of chronic illness at age 12. In those years of the early 1960s, when her symptoms were not easily diagnosed and second-wave feminism was barely on the proverbial map, Alida became a feminist. Doctors ignored her and her mother because Brill’s symptoms were inconsistent and sporadic – and because she was a young girl. She has spent her professional career working for the rights of women and girls undoubtedly informed by those experiences in her young life.
Posted in biography, bodies, books, guest post, identity, social attitudes
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 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
By Guest on 9 April, 2010
Cara is a feminist writer who blogs at both The Curvature and Feministe. She likes The Beatles, vinyl records, and social justice, though not necessarily in that order. The first time I saw someone say in a progressive space that it was ableist to use the word “lame” as a pejorative, I thought they were [...]
Posted in guest post, language | Tagged ableism, lame, words mean things
By Guest on 3 February, 2010
We have the highest respect for the use of TAB and “temporarily
able-bodied.” Using it is a way for a disability activist (or anyone
discussing disability) to quickly and effectively bring all of her/his
listeners into one group: some of us are disabled now and many of us
will be sooner or later. It’s a phrase that builds community, that
reminds people that the needs of some are really the needs of
everyone. It’s akin to
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design">“universal
design” as a phrase reminding us of what brings us together,
rather than what separates us.
Posted in age, bodies, guest post, language, social attitudes | Tagged ability, activism, aging, body image, body impolitic, disability, TAB, temporarily able-bodied
By Guest on 22 December, 2009
The general public’s understanding of service dogs or in some cases that there is anything beyond guides is very low. It makes sense that more people know of guide dogs, as they are did start the first service dog schools and hold their dogs to a very high standard. I must say that the constant questioning of whether I am blind is most annoying, not because I’m insulted, but because what my disability is or isn’t is not up for public consumption. When one adds in American society’s feelings towards mental illness, I rarely feel disclosure is in my best interest.
Posted in accessibility, guest post | Tagged bipolar disorder, mental health, mental health concerns, mental illness, service animals
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