cripchick’s weblog

The words carnival and disability together brings many images to mind. Images of freakshows, disability being manipulated, and all kinds of hard times for disabled people are thought of. Here we are though, in 2008, reclaiming and recycling these words together to mean something new. This disability blog carnival, the 37th one of its kind, focuses on the celebration of disability culture, struggle, people, history and identity. Put your party hats on— we’re ready to get started!

“I think it was perhaps the most important thing that happened to me. It formed me, guided me, instructed me, helped me, humiliated me, all those things at once. I’ve never gotten over it, and I am aware of the force and power of it.”
—Dorethea Lange on disability

ThinkFreestyle tells us why disability culture is important to her as a disabled Latina while honoring a friend who traveled alongside her in her journey to community. Solitaire Miles shares with us both a beautiful self-portrait and her difficult experience as a disabled person in the entertainment industry. Wheelchair Dancer writes beautifully about how identity is part practice, part culture while Big Noise taps into collective power through pride. Astrid dissects disability culture and asks whether people can rightfully have a disability identity when being excluded from the disability community.
Bladyblog bravely ponders his disability identity and talks about living on the margins of queer and disability identity groups. Fibrofog does a wonderful job also on this topic and talks about how we can not have a single-issue system of justice and expect change.

Baraka describes her disability as a second husband, someone who takes energy from her, while Wheelie Catholic tells us what she doesn’t miss about her pre-quad body. Paula and Tokah both talk about how disability identity sometimes clashes with the other parts of them (and both come up with really cool terms—Paula “cripeleptic” and Tokah “the chippy martyr”). Kay at The Gimp Parade writes about the complicated all-encompassing [inclusive] nature of the disability community. Ettina talks about disability identity as the differences between you and nondisabled people, not labels. Ettina also covers intellectual and developmental disability stereotypes and how her life fits into them. Estee, at the Joy of Autism blog, also talks about difference and how it is not a deficiency [something lacking]. Shiloh also writes about disability being a part of her and even includes an acrostic poem!

Cheryl tells us what life is like when society tells you are lacking in culture or community and makes her own definitions of disability (hint: creativity! Being resourceful!). Terri tells us what she wants— pride, respect, group accountability for ableism, and acceptance. (Check out her list for more.) Mik Danger, one of my favorite bloggers, tells us why people should ally with the disability community and how movements feed each other. Dark Angel radically defies stereotypes with her beautiful queer, blind, pagan, goth self. Matt speculates why people with disabilities are often excluded from houses of worship. Shiva and Trinity and both talk about the politics of passing [hiding your identity] in a very personal way. Trin says “I wasn’t passing. I was telling myself I passed because I couldn’t stomach the idea that maybe I didn’t, that maybe my disability was something that really did affect how people saw me and thought of me and interacted with me.” Shiva says: ”The problem with “passing” and “stealth”, when it comes to liberation movements, is that it’s essentially an individualistic way of seeking one’s own safety, freedom or place in society by moving out of an oppressed or marginalized group, which inevitably compromises one’s ability to fight for the rights of that whole group”.

Pitt Rehab tells us that, with his spinal cord injury, some days he does not feel disabled while other days his life screams disability. Lauredhel tells us how disability impacts day-to-day routines, like going to the doctor. After some seizures and TIAs, Elizabeth McClung writes in with an emotionally raw post and a letter to herself reminding her who she is. Annaham shares with us a self-portrait where she has needles poking every part of her body but still has her fist raised. David shares his painful experience of hearing a disability slur in a safe space. Perennial Sam shares her first blog post ever with us, one that describes the nature of her mental health disability. Yanub, author of Yet Another Never Updated blog (lol), also writes about the nature of her disability and her journey with it. Amandaw tells us of the way she reluctantly [slowly, unsurely] uses the word “Disabled” and her reasons for it. gives us a Hymes asks us a series of questions around how she is treated as a person with a psychiatric disability.

Elizabeth explains why it isn’t autism that she wants cured but rather neurotypicality [the idea that everyone has to think, behave, and communicate in the same way]. Pocochina writes about her struggle with accepting disability and figuring out if she is a part of the community. Zan at Butterfly Cauldron writes about the need for grieving over the changes in one’s body and life because of disability. Verlidaine talks about the “why you” stare when she calls out ableism. Athena and Ivan talk about the ups and downs of disability or autistic pride and the need to sometimes be guarded about disclosing [letting people know] their disability.

Three new websites were shared with us during this carnival: Endeavor Freedom, a networking site for disability activists and everyday people, Feminist Mental Health UK, a group blog focused on mental health issues, and Hows Your News, a fun media site about a group of disabled people making their mark on pop culture!

Julia also shared a fierce poem inspired by Frida Kahlo. Though I was not able to access it because I don’t have an Endeavor Freedom password (yet!), it is Comment #33 on this thread.

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Whew! Quite a carnival! If you haven’t had time to post yet, feel free to keep sending your posts this way and add to the dialogue!

A special thank-you goes to Penny who, from my 5 second internet research, has been working on the carnival since September 2006. Many props and thanks also go to the 40 bloggers who put a lot of thought into their posts and submitted them and/or were found out (grin) by Penny at the Disability Studies Temple Univ. blog.

The next blog carnival will be at Ryn Tales on the 22nd so be sure to visit over there and find out more.

Again, please feel free to keep submitting!

the radicalagitator tagged me in a meme that asked me to describe myself in a 6 words. I chose “i am tears, i am beauty” and worked it into this poem i’ve been playing around with for a while. i tag anyone that wants to play (cheating? yeah well this post isn’t exactly 6 words anyways). : ) (more…)

Cara recently began writing for Feministe (congrats, Cara) and one of her first posts was a story linked by FRIDA about a disabled woman, known as KEJ in the courtroom, who went to court to fight forced sterilization her legal guardian wanted for her. The 3 panel judges ruled that there was not enough reason for her to be sterilized.

Disability rights advocates and medical ethicists praised a precendent-setting ruling Friday by the Illinois Appellate Court denying a bid to sterilize a mentally disabled women against her will.

The woman, identified only as K.E.J. in court records, isn’t capable of raising a child on her own, but her guardian failed to prove that sterilization would be in her best interests, a three-judge panel in Chicago ruled.

Rather than celebrating this victory—and a disabled person’s right to bodily autonomy [control] is very much a victory in this ableist society we live in— the comment section quickly turned to the right of a child not to have a disabled parent or more importantly, who would be paying and raising for this kid.

Here are some sample comments:

“…Who exactly IS supposed to raise a child born to a woman who is truly incapable of doing so on her own? I realize that abuses have been and may still be rampant, and many disabilities do not affect a person’s ability to parent, but honestly, if this woman gets pregnant, who’s on the hook for raising that child? The aunt, who is already caring for KEJ?” Comment 4, by Ruth

“Who in the world is going to raise that child? Our tax dollars? Relatives dragooned into service through state power or shame? What if the disability is congenital and the child needs as much or more care than the parent? I agree with your basic point, that forced sterilization is something to be avoided. But people who are emotionally, or physically, or financially incapable of providing a decent quality of life for their children shouldn’t reproduce.” Comment 8, by felagund

“I am going back and forth on this, personally. When I first read it, I thought, “Well, she sounds like a perfect candidate for sterilization”. While I am not her doctor and don’t know her personally, I could certainly understand why someone who can’t take care of themself is not going to be a great parent. The article didn’t provide much information on her actual condition, but if she is mentally limited in some way- possible in this case- and unable to live by herself, it would seem almost cruel to the aunt who has already taken on a person who will apparently never be able to move out. It is also likely that KEJ cannot financially support herself, so in the event that her aunt dies, who will care for her and her offspring? And while this is not the case for KEJ specifically, certainly there are some people whose problems are going to be passed to their offspring, making the caretaker work even harder.” Comment 13 by Jenlovesponies

“…I do think it would be unfair to push that child on someone else (the mother’s parents or private caretakers). It’s unfair to the others, and it’s unfair to the child. It’s like giving a puppy to your friend, but your friend doesn’t have the time/patience/love/etc. to take care of it and pushes it off on her roommate, who grudgingly obliges because her roommate doesn’t want the puppy to be unhappy and starve to death. That’s not how children should be brought up!” Comment 14 by danakitty

A friend who lives in Chicago and has been following this case since 2005 told me privately that KEJ has her own house and a good sum of money. Though I have no evidence of this to blog about (it cannot be confirmed until court opinions come out), it is important to note how much the anger at KEJ for wanting children is based on her assumed class. What would the conversation look like if it was a rich disabled person who wanted to have children? Totally different, I’m sure. People wouldn’t hate KEJ and her wishes to be a mother would be understood and perhaps even appreciated.

Many commenters on the Feministe thread have rightfully pointed out how close the argument that disabled women should not be mothers is to the long history of policies and policing based on the idea that poor women should not be mothers. By talking about who will raise or pay for the child we are already talking about class— class and disability, like race, are very much tied together. I believe there are certain aspects of disability (poverty, housing, employment) that can somewhat be canceled out by class and white privilege (look at Christopher Reeve) but recognizing this does not give people the right to determine who are “good” parents and “bad” parents. Though the discussion is on disability, it is very much about criminalizing a perceived poor woman for wanting to have children.

It’s also interesting to think about this idea we have of childrearing [raising kids] and how much that is based on society’s heteronormative [expecting everyone to be straight/heterosexual] ideal of a perfect family: a father who goes to work, a mother who stays home to take care of the children, two kids, a dog, etc. Is this really reality? What happened to the idea that it takes a village to raise a child? Grandparents, babysitters, neighbors, teachers, siblings all play a part in every child’s life so why does it suddenly become irresponsible for a disabled parent to share responsibilities with other people when roles for everyday people are already being shared?

This whole arguement is also based on the idea that the disabled person will just pop a kid out and not plan for it (does this sound familiar? Anything like the racism behind the “welfare queen” stereotype?). This is completely inaccurate. Disabled people, from my experience, are naturally planners. We have to be. Every part of our life (at least for people with physical disabilities like mine) is planned… where I go, how I get there (is there is accessible transportation?), who will go with me (which PA can work?), when will I go (what times are PAs available?) are ALL planned ahead of time. Even the times I PISS or shower is planned.

Perhaps the kid’s childhood will be different than the “norm” or the idea of the norm but disabled people have so much to give (and not just in the tokenized volunteer at a day care way, btw). Is childrearing really just about who gives the kid a bath or is it about teaching values and preparing younger kids for life? Disabled people have so much to teach.. and not in that inspirational if-I-can-do-it-you-can-do-it way.

The ableism in these threads always scare me. Partially because it’s on feminist blogs, partially because the internet allows people to say what they really feel. KEJ’s case is a victory but I’m still left to question whether we’re making any progress.

—edit—

For more information on disabled parenting:

www.disabilitypride.com (blog run by a disabled mother parenting disabled kids)

www.disabledparent.net (parent resource site)

Today I’m recovering from HK on J (Historic Thousands on Jones Street), a march to the North Carolina statehouse where 5000+ people rallied for change, specifically around the 14 Point People’s Agenda. My face is embarrassingly sunburnt to the crisp and for some reason all swollen—to the point that one eye won’t open—but I’ve learned to go better prepared next time.

I want to say that it was the most empowering event I’ve been to in a long time. It definitely was powerful (and cool to meet and be around people, like running into Y!). Still, I’ve never felt more invisible in my life and being invisible is draining (I slept 16 hours afterwards and I normally sleep 5-7). Although representing the “people”, there was no mention of my community— unless you count us as diseases under the healthcare point. The location, though historic, was completely inaccessible and while people had to stand on the hillsides because of a lack of seating, the 15-chair row around me and my friends were empty. When people were passing out pamphlets or asking for support, it was like there was a wall around where we were sitting– time after time they’d do every row until they reached ours and then without eye contact, would quickly scurry away. Are disabled people really all that scary? (more…)