Stop leaving disability out of your utopia
Visions of utopia never include disabled people. The people who create and consume those visions should probably ask why that is.
disablism
Why treat disability as a failure on television?
In medical dramas, disability is always represented as a failed outcome. What if we changed that framing?
The terrifying disablism of Me Before You
Me Before You just premiered in theatres, adding another entry to the long pantheon of films about disabled people, for nondisabled people. Like others, it relies on cripface and the presentation of disability as an unimaginable tragedy, which is hugely offensive.
On peeled oranges, dehumanisation, and social attitudes
If you spend a lot of time on the internet, especially on social media, you’ve probably seen the meme floating around: A photo of a peeled orange inside a plastic container, clearly labeled as a Whole Foods product, with the caption: ‘If ...
The Just Say Hi campaign is patronising and disablist
To be visibly disabled is to become part of the public commons. People who use mobility aids like wheelchairs, canes, and walkers are obviously, visibly, evidently disabled, alongside blind and low vision people who rely on guide animals, canes, and ...
Kristof, Singer, and narratives of comforting familiarity
Periodically, Nicholas Kristof, Peter Singer, and their ilk lurch into my consciousness once again, usually as a result of something one of them has said that has the whole internet aflutter. How wise! How interesting! How germane! I consider going ...
Must minorities dance for you before they can be human?
As Quantico started its slow rise into the US consciousness — an interesting take on the traditional procedural, presented in an intriguing way — I started reading a great deal of commentary about the show, and I particularly enjoyed Anu ...
Think before you share: disability
One of the most interesting things about joining Facebook, for me, has been exposure to the phenomenon known as the ‘share,’ the linking of something or relinking of something someone else published. Shares circulate merrily across the ...
Ableism, disablism, and language
I missed Lisa Egan’s post on ableism versus disablism when it went up in 2013, but once I discovered it last year, I’ve been mulling it over ever since. Followers of disability language and politics are likely familiar with one or both ...
Is Autism Speaks a hate group?
Autism Speaks is the bane of autism self-advocates the world over. The pernicious and seemingly inescapable organisation has only been around since 2005, but it’s managed to penetrate society quite thoroughly, establishing itself as the ...