5 ms·

I started reading a new book today, "Beasts of Burden" by Sunaura Taylor, which talks about the parallels between the fight for rights for the disabled and the

I started reading a new book today, "Beasts of Burden" by Sunaura Taylor, which talks about the parallels between the fight for rights for the disabled and the fight for animal rights. The first chapter or so serves as an introduction to what disabled rights means, and what it feels like to be disabled in an ableist world, and the author talks about a cliche in disabled culture which is "super crip", in which we are astonished and inspired by someone with a disability doing something that we deem impossible or difficult for a disabled person, like getting married, or climbing a mountain. Serious question, because I'm genuinely curious and don't know, but is an article like this just the same tired cliche? I'm curious to hear from others where the line is drawn between being a positive and helpful representation of what life can be for someone who is disabled, and being condescending because we're surprised deaf folks can be good at football.

mwcampbell 5y ago
What I find annoying, as a (partially) blind person, is when people say I'm inspirational because I'm good at something where my disability isn't even a factor. For example, one time I did karaoke at a bar where I had never been before, and while I was singing my first song, a guy was saying stuff like, "guy is blind, that's awesome... this guy is inspirational". (I know this because he posted a video on Facebook, which got back to me via a friend.) So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I can sing? How does that make sense? "Blind musician" is such a stereotype, I figured the reaction would be more like, "he's blind; of course he can sing."
- mintplant 5y ago
  > So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I can sing? How does that make sense? Best I can think of is that—since this was karaoke—maybe they were impressed that you didn't need to read the lyrics off the screen? Assuming the bar didn't have an accessible alternative to the teleprompter.
  - mwcampbell 5y ago
    Yeah, I guess that could be it. And no, I'm not aware of any accessible option for karaoke lyrics. But as I like to say, real performers have been memorizing their songs for thousands of years.
zachrip 5y ago
This really makes me think about myself. Misattribution is probably the most annoying thing. I didn't get far in the software industry in spite of my loss of vision or hearing (in fact it was my vision declining that made me focus on computers and to quit sports). On the other hand, I'm decent at competitive shooters despite my disabilities. So sometimes it's just like "why are we talking about my disability, it has nothing to do with this." Sometimes we want to be celebrated for just the "normal" amazing things, and especially things our abled peers couldn't achieve (or maybe I just hold myself to way too high of standard).

mwcampbell 5y ago

What I find annoying, as a (partially) blind person, is when people say I'm inspirational because I'm good at something where my disability isn't even a factor. For example, one time I did karaoke at a bar where I had never been before, and while I was singing my first song, a guy was saying stuff like, "guy is blind, that's awesome... this guy is inspirational". (I know this because he posted a video on Facebook, which got back to me via a friend.) So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I can sing? How does that make sense? "Blind musician" is such a stereotype, I figured the reaction would be more like, "he's blind; of course he can sing."

mintplant 5y ago
> So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I can sing? How does that make sense? Best I can think of is that—since this was karaoke—maybe they were impressed that you didn't need to read the lyrics off the screen? Assuming the bar didn't have an accessible alternative to the teleprompter.
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  Yeah, I guess that could be it. And no, I'm not aware of any accessible option for karaoke lyrics. But as I like to say, real performers have been memorizing their songs for thousands of years.

zachrip 5y ago

This really makes me think about myself. Misattribution is probably the most annoying thing. I didn't get far in the software industry in spite of my loss of vision or hearing (in fact it was my vision declining that made me focus on computers and to quit sports). On the other hand, I'm decent at competitive shooters despite my disabilities. So sometimes it's just like "why are we talking about my disability, it has nothing to do with this." Sometimes we want to be celebrated for just the "normal" amazing things, and especially things our abled peers couldn't achieve (or maybe I just hold myself to way too high of standard).