I came across an article yesterday entitled "Laughing at Dwarfism is the Last Acceptable Prejudice". It's a great article actually. It talks about how the author and other people with dwarfism have both experienced general prejudice and the added bizarre phenomenon of having people basically ask them if it is ok to tell a story … Continue reading We Need to Stop Saying Things Like “The Last Acceptable Prejudice”
Tag: ableism
Choosing Not to Disclose a Diagnosis is Not Giving in to Shame
So in my last post, I talked about my friend Navi who successfully challenged the documentation requirements to acquire academic accommodations for Mental Health at York University. She won that fight and has been receiving some media interest as a result. In my last post I did two things. I clarified some of the common … Continue reading Choosing Not to Disclose a Diagnosis is Not Giving in to Shame
Disability, Gender, Sexuality and Hair
When I moved from my home in Saskatchewan to Toronto to study for my Masters degree, I didn't cut my hair. This was an act of defiance. That may seem like an odd thing to say as a straight cisgender woman and yet it's true. The gendered world in which we live often says that … Continue reading Disability, Gender, Sexuality and Hair
In Defense of the Radical Idea of Letting Disabled People Exist in Public Without Comment
Today, I was reading a blog post by Dominick Evans called Don't "Just Say Hi" to Me...Just Fuck Off Instead. He's referencing the Cerebral Palsy Foundation's ill advised campaign to combat people's discomfort around disability by inviting them to engage with disabled people and "Just Say Hi". In my experience people don't have trouble saying … Continue reading In Defense of the Radical Idea of Letting Disabled People Exist in Public Without Comment
The Media and the Imaginary Disabled Person
I get it, as far as popular culture and the media are concerned disability doesn't exist. Disability isn't real, it's just a metaphor. You know how I know this? The complete lack of actual disabled people in the media. Yet the media doesn't ignore disability. They make movies about "disability", they have "disabled" characters in … Continue reading The Media and the Imaginary Disabled Person
Please Stop Simultaneously Bringing Attention to and Minimizing Examples of Passive Oppression
First off lets define what I mean by passive oppression. I am referring to those instances of bigotry that people unaffected by the oppression don't see as problematic. These actions are usually brushed off with a "oh I didn't mean it that way" or "It was Just a joke, lighten up". The thing that makes … Continue reading Please Stop Simultaneously Bringing Attention to and Minimizing Examples of Passive Oppression
When the Real Life Murder of a Disabled Child Was Used as a Moral Dilemma in a University Class
Being disabled in academia can be difficult. Not just in terms of access to physical and academic supports but also in terms of the disability is presented in academic discourse. The social environment of universities can be toxic for disabled students and academics. So much so that some people feel that they have to leave. … Continue reading When the Real Life Murder of a Disabled Child Was Used as a Moral Dilemma in a University Class
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