Skip to main content

The first, biggest problem is ableism

[img desc: blurry white papers on a blurry tan desk, a magnifying glass held in the center of the frame reveals equally spaced non-language dark grey glyphs, including shapes such as squares, circles, and a simple drawing of a ringed planet, written with a very "wet" pen. This is likely a code, but it matches pretty closely to the description of how my visually impaired friend describes sight - even when she can see, it doesn't really make sense.]

I've just woken up... and this is what's already occupying my mind....

the other day in a discord mostly for blind people, i had an argument with someone who said something like, "the first, biggest problem that blind people face is the blind people who are able to work and choose not to", this was driven because apparently friends had told her that certain jobs were too hard for them. it was exceptionally frustrating to explain to her that sometimes people just say things that aren't accurate (ie, not saying why the job was too hard or boring, not disclosing multiple disabilities), and explaining how other people aren't entitled to hear reasons anyway. Apparently, despite being completely blind, this woman had accepted all ableism and denied access in her own workplace as acceptable? This is called "internalizing ableism", and as you can see, it creates more than just friction in a disadvantaged community. As the conversation dragged on, i came to realize that visual impairment was not the disability that was granting her friends government assistance - but i don't think she has yet.

she's not the first person I've had that conversation with. doubt she'll be the last. the absolute revulsion and ableism she showed towards her "friends" for not being the "good disabled" was absolutely tragic.

Anyway that kind of thing is exactly why i can't stand the use of the word "lazy". It's never lazy to prioritize your health over your income. It's never lazy to prioritize activities you prefer over activities you don't, especially when you have the increased spoon cost that comes with having to overcome sensory or cognitive barriers.

The word "lazy" reminds me of this disgust towards interdependence that people spread so casually even when they, too, rely on support of others...
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

interdependence and apples

》　It really saddens me that it only takes one bad apple to ruin a bunch for most people. The reason the saying is, "one bad apple ruins the bushel/barrel" is that because of the way apples rot, they emit a gas that causes all the apples around them to rot as well. When talking about how people interact, a person did not develop their personality by accident or by chance; they were enabled by so many people that there's almost no way of picking out any particular influence. For instance, if you read the book about Trump by his niece, she points out that nearly every troubling behavior he has was initially caused by the extremely high desire he had to earn his own father's affection, and was subsequently reinforced by celebrity-dom and the trappings of wealth. Similarly MLK Jr., who was a reverend for some time before he became a celebrity, was strongly influenced by his own understanding of the Word of God and the unconditional support of his loved ones, ev...
Post a Comment
Read more

the value of exploitation

》　 Income of black slaves? You clearly don’t realize slavery almost abolished itself because of hoe **nonprofitable** it was until the cotton jin Growing cotton has never profited from slavery. In fact, paid laborers were more profitable than slave laborers even after the cotton gin was created; although the question of whether the paid laborers were not also being exploited is certainly apparent. The country was divided on the matter of slavery from the very start - northerners, influenced by Quaker ideals, tended to express the belief that all men are equal under God, whereas white southerners, for what reasons I cannot fathom, tended to express the belief that the color of someone's skin displayed the color of their soul, or something to that poetic effect. Letters from 1775 show that white southerners *believed* slavery to be more profitable, to be a biological necessity, even held some kind of religious concern about it and definitely had concerns that the kingdom ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unintentional Abuse

Questioner: [what do you mean by] Unintentional grooming? Questioner: explain further pls cuz i’ve thought about that but never like- processed it fully >> I am doing my best to avoid getting really psychological here, but the basis of the concept is that the human mind avoids thinking about things that threaten your sense of self and reality. This is a well-documented and extremely strong instinct. So like, people don't automatically assume that they are doing something bad. Nearly every person will seek out and find justifications for everything they do. A 40 yo isn't going to suddenly get up and say, "I've never had an interest in younger people before, but I suddenly want to take advantage of someone's naivety." Becoming an asshole like that is a process shaped by exposure to the abuse of others (not usually direct abuse, surprisingly) and being enabled by social expectations and unfettered access. They do not believe that they are doing anythin...
Post a Comment
Read more