SF/F and the Politics of Disability
Feb. 16th, 2016 06:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davidgillonI've finally written my second blog in response to SF Signal/Amy Sterling-Casil's "We Are All Disabled" (aka the utter car-crash).
SF/F and the Politics of Disability
TLDR: Disability exists within a political context Sterling-Casil couldn't be bothered to research
Trigger warnings for discussions of Ableism/Disablism and Aktion T4.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-16 07:21 am (UTC)I appreciated the rundown of lowlights of UK policies because it's an area I know virtually nothing about, so that was very educational for me. On a more personal basis, I really liked how clear you were that no group or person speaks for everyone, and that many issues, such as "person first" language, are neither right nor wrong, but a matter of personal preference and/or social context - but it's for sure wrong to override a disabled person's own preference in the name of good activism. I have seen people do that repeatedly, and it is not only not good activism, it is being an asshole. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Using people's own language is a huge issue for me. As a therapist, even if I'm screwing up everything else, I try really hard to use people's own language. A lot of therapy literature actually advocates against that in many circumstances, and I hate that. Whether a client is a disabled person or a person with disabilities or anything else is 100% up to them, as far as I'm concerned.
(If they're using a reclaimed slur or some other term that people often like to use for themselves but don't want outsiders repeating, I ask them if they want me to use it, and if not, what word they'd like me to use. Otherwise, I just listen for their language so I can use it too. (I do this even if I'm in their same group and would use the word for myself, because I don't tell clients stuff about my identity unless they a,sk and my only minority identity that's visible is gender. (If it's clearly relevant and I think they might want to know but aren't sure if it's OK to ask, I ask them if they'd like to know.))
Anyway, I'm also sorry the column is going away. Obviously it's her choice and there were some bad entries, but there were also some excellent ones and it's an important topic.
I believe in a social AND a medical model. My language gets confused.
Date: 2016-02-18 09:28 pm (UTC)My perception of "spastic" is a bit like the inverse of, er, typing it here for clarity, sexist term warning, "cunt." In the UK that word is very rude and sexist; in the US it is absolutely beyond the pale. Spastic seems to be beyond the pale in the UK, whilst in the US it's just very offensive.
But by no means is it an acceptable term in the US! Crip has at least got insider reclaiming going for it.
Re: I believe in a social AND a medical model. My language gets confused.
Date: 2016-02-18 11:06 pm (UTC)