@invadernav , since you asked, this is how i turned it off. this is for Mobile only. i cant find it on my desktop so im currently running on the assumption my desktop version hasnt updated yet.
Reblogging to save a goddamn life
My app finally updated and I immediately turned this off.
I’ll take this one since I’m the blog’s resident Jew. Oy vey, where do I start…
SJ community loves to police Jewish identity and silence actual Jews when they talk about their own identities. This usually happens in context of either “Are Jews White?” or “Jewishness is just a religion” conversations. In reality, Jews are an ethnoreligious group that ethnically originated in the middle east, and while some ethnic Jews have light skin, it’s actually due to centuries of forced assimilation in European and Slavic countries through rape, which is a big reason why Jewishness is matrilineal. Furthermore, there exist Jews who do not look white at all. There are black, brown, and asian Jews who are all ethnically Jewish, and these conversations erase them.
“Jewish privilege”. Fact: It’s not a thing. It’s actually a very common anti-semitic trope that says that Jews run everything so they are not oppressed. Jews are oppressed, and face anti-semitic violence.
“Anti-semitism is not just about Jews, there are other semitic people.” While yea, there are other semitic people, the term “anti-semitism” was created by Germans in the 19th century to refer specifically to the hatred of Jews because it sounded more scientific.
Blaming anti-semitic violence in Europe on the actions of Israel. I see this literally every single day on this site, and it’s very upsetting. Jews that live in the diaspora are not responsible for Israel’s actions, and especially should not be suffering at the hands of white people in Europe under the guise of anti-zionism.
Finally, and this is a big pet peeve of mine. The only people I ever see reblogging posts about anti-semitism are other Jews. Even a lot of my non-Jewish followers will reblog posts about racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. but ignore posts about anti-semitism, and that as a Jew makes me feel unsafe.
That’s enough for now. If you’re interested in learning more about Jewish identity and anti-semitism, you are welcome to check out my personal blog: yochevedke. I discuss that stuff a lot.
-Yeva
Another Jew reblogging about anti-semitism. I’ve seen some increase in concern about this from goyim, but it’s been slow going. Hopefully we’ll pick up a big head of steam soon.
“The only people I ever see reblogging posts about anti-semitism are other Jews. Even a lot of my non-Jewish followers will reblog posts about racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. but ignore posts about anti-semitism, and that as a Jew makes me feel unsafe.”
the amount with which this point in particular resonates with me is unreal
The bold is especially important.
I don’t think I suffer a lot from anti-Semitism, and I certainly don’t face anything close to the degree of oppression that many of my peers have to face because of their gender and sexual identity and the color of their skin. That being said, The previous posters are absolutely right on all counts.
Again, The only people I ever see reblogging posts about anti-Semitism are other Jews, while many blogs I follow reblog every post under the sun relating to racism, sexism, and homophobia. This issue has on occasion made me feel pretty isolated, because I have seen a lot of people reblogging posts related to recents events in Gaza that reflected extremely anti-Israel points of view. There’s nothing wrong with that, people have every right to hold those opinions, and I even share some of them. However, as the original poster said, a lot of recent anti-Semitic violence in Europe stems from the the willingness of anti-Israel Europeans to hold Jews in the Diaspora responsible for the actions of the state of Israel. This is not ok. This is anti-Semitism, and this is part of what American Jews are seeing as anti-Semitic in what tumblr users say and do.
The average American Jew on tumblr doesn’t think “I support what Israel is doing in Gaza, and the horrible things people say about Israel are anti-Semitic attacks”.
The average American Jew on tumblr thinks “I don’t support what Israel is doing in Gaza, and even though there wasn’t a single popular protest in Europe over civilian deaths in Syria, Libya, or elsewhere in the Middle East caused government violence, but as soon as Israel did it Europe was outraged, and tumblr exploded with anti-Israel posts covering the protests and Israel’s actions.”
Fantastic points. Bravo everyone.
I, as a non-Jewish person, probably don’t reblog enough about anti-semitism, so here’s a great post from Jewish tumblr peeps with some excellent points about anti-semitism and systematic opression of Jewish folks, so, read up, folks.
1.) one or both of people you see as a “straight couple” could be pan/bi/poly/ace
2.) one or both of them could be trans or non binary
3.) you could be misgendering someone
4.) They could be there to give moral support to a queer friend or family member who didn’t want to go alone.
Number four is important
5. They could be there because they support the cause stop fucking gatekeeping
6. They could be there in memory of a loved one, don’t forget Pride used to be a memorial as well as a celebration. I know a good number of straight people who go to Pride to celebrate the lives of friends and family who have died because they want to remember them as they lived, happy and joyful and surrounded by a community that loved them.
ALL OF THE FUCKING ABOVE.
7. They could be questioning or closeted about their gender and/or sexuality, or not ready to question their gender and/or sexuality, but still want to attend pride, either to experience being around people like themselves or to ‘test the waters’ in an open event that doesn’t have the loaded weight of walking into an explicitly queer space like a club, social group or community centre. These people might be closeted or questioning forever, or attending pride as a ‘passing straight’ person might be their first step into a deeper community engagement.
8. Open events are so important for this segment of our community for reasons of safety, too. People who CANNOT be open in their personal life can watch a parade or go to a park event without it being as implicitly indicative of their identity. Very important for vulnerable people (teens, disabled people, etc.) who are dependent on carers who might be unaccepting of their gender or sexuality.
okay, i’m just putting this out here because it needs to be said and i’m sick of letting the bullshit train continue when i could help stop – or at least bring attention to – it. i have a friend who is diplegic and therefore uses a manual chair (her twin was also quadriplegic and in a motorized chair) and when we watch movies with wheelchairs in them, we like to critique the designs.
do you know why mcavoy couldn’t/can’t drive his motorized wheelchair? BECAUSE THE FUCKING WHEELS ARE ON THE WRONG WAY. HANK MCCOY, WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY A “GENIUS”, DESIGNED THE WHEELCHAIR SO THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT AND THE SMALL WHEELS ARE ON THE BACK.
LOOK!
LOOK AT THIS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. DO YOU KNOW WHY HE CAN’T DRIVE IT? THE SMALL WHEELS ARE AT THE FRONT BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALL AND THEREFORE ALLOW FOR LOTS OF FINE CONTROL, AND THE BIG WHEELS ARE AT THE BACK BECAUSE THEY OFFER POWER. WHEN THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO CONTROL WHERE YOU ARE GOING. IT’S LIKE WHEN YOU WALK BACKWARDS ON A BIKE AND TRY TO STEER STILL WITH THE HANDLEBARS. I SAT BACKWARDS ON MY FRIEND’S MANUAL CHAIR AND TRIED TO WHEEL MYSELF. IT WAS LIKE COMPLETELY REWIRING MY MOTOR SKILLS EVERY SECOND I WAS MOVING. IT. IS. BULLSHIT. AND ALL OF CHARLES’ CHAIRS ARE LIKE THIS!!! HANK!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!
ALSO. Charles would have THE WORST backpain from that stiff-ass unnecessary fuckin metal backrest that goes all the way up. YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE’S BACKS GET UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN SITTING FOR HOURS ON A LONG PLANE OR CAR RIDE???? YOU KNOW THAT FEELING??? THAT FEELING IS THIS CHARLES’ LIFE, OKAY. HIS BACK HAS TO BE UNNATURALLY STRAIGHT ALL THE TIME. THIS CRITIQUE IS TAKEN FROM MY FRIEND’S EXPERIENCE BECAUSE SHE ALSO HAS A HARD BACK CHAIR AND HAS BEEN TOLD SHE’S GOING TO HAVE AWFUL BACK AND SHOULDER PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF IT. YET HARD BACKS ARE STANDARD AND SLING BACKS – LIKE THE ONE I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU IN A SECOND – ARE NOT! THIS IS BECAUSE THE WHEELCHAIR-GETTING SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY BROKEN AND IT’S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD REALLY CARE ABOUT BUT IT IS A RANT FOR ANOTHER DAY). THE POINT IS, CHARLES’ BACK IS ONE HURTIN’ UNIT IN THIS CHAIR I GUARANTEE YOU. HE OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T NEED IT FOR TRUNK CONTROL. HE HAS AMAZINGLY FREE RANGE OF MOVEMENT ABOVE HIS HIPS. THIS CHAIR IS B U L L S H I T. HE CAN’T DRIVE, HE CAN’T SIT UP IN A COMFORTABLE WAY. POOR BABY IS H U R T I N G but right, Hank’s ~~a genius~~
In contrast, look at this chair!
Look at those tiny-ass wheels on the front! The user of this could spin ON A DIME. It’s Nice as Fuck. Look at that back. (Okay I’m not 1000% certain it’s a slingback) but it doesn’t go all the way up the user’s back! That’s some free-range-of-movement-let-your-spine-do-almost-anything-it-wants-shit right there. Since Charles pretty clearly has full use of his trunk in the movies, this would make much more sense. Also, Ann (friend) and I really don’t see why he would want an electric wheelchair when he clearly could have a manual one that allows for even more control.
AND OKAY, all wheelchairs should be specific to their users. Some people need more back support. In Ann’s quadriplegic brother’s chair there was a neck brace and little wing things on the side that came out and clamped around his body. Some people’s foot rests need to go out like Charles’ does (whether or not he requires this is kind of foggy, espc. since the overall design is so. asinine.). Some need their footrests to be more in like the orange chair. Some people get tilted wheels, some people don’t. (Also the process for deciding this is bullshit – on government insurance they will only build your chair with the assumption that you will never leave your house and therefore it’s almost impossible to get ‘add ons’ like sling backs and tilted wheels and under-the-seat brakes WHICH SHOULD BE STANDARD, AGAIN, BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THEM YOU COULD HAVE MORE MEDICAL ISSUES DOWN THE ROAD OMG THIS SYSTEM IS SO BROKEN).
But I think we can ALL fucking agree that your wheels should go on the goddamn correct way so you can, you know, steer. And that maybe your chair should be designed more like a mobility assistance device than a fucking 1860′s gentleman’s club wingback for no goddamn earthly reason.
SHIT this stuff gets me riled up.
wow this is really interesting and makes a lot of sense! New headcanon is that Charles only uses the ridiculous X-chair when he’s teaching a class but the second he has spare time he settles into a wheelchair like the one below and just goes “aahhhhhhhh”
@spiftynifty is absolutely right, I was about to criticise his wheelchair as well, but then I noticed that he uses a completely different one when he is actually outside with Hank and Summers brothers (sorry for super bad quality)
Let me reblog this with an addition because YOU SHOULD STILL ABSOLUTELY CRITICIZE HIS WHEELCHAIR. Yes, he uses the manual wheelchair outside. Wanna know why?
Regular motorized wheelchairs are REALLY REALLY heavy. Charles’ motorized chair, even if its a light weight alloy, is made ENTIRELY out of metal. It’s probably too heavy for wheeling through gravel and across the lawn. He would sink. Also, let me re-iterate, ITS WHEELS ARE CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY TOO POORLY TO HAVE ANY CONTROL WHATSOEVER. THE *WHEELS* ARE GODDAMN METAL, IMAGINE WHEN ITS ICY OUTSIDE. YEAH. YEAH, IT’S NOT GOOD. And when it’s not icy and he’s trying to wheel across the grass with those stupid-ass wheels – into the pond he goes. Also, Hank put the motor like one fucking inch off the goddamn ground so when the HEAVY WHEELCHAIR inevitably SINKS………. Yeah. Charles is up the creek without a paddle.
As for this manual chair, it is also subpar. Although the wheels are mercifully in the right place, it looks too small for him. The wheels need to come up higher so that when he wheels himself, the rim grips are right there. Also, his arms should be able to go back pretty far on the wheels. Where they are now, you can only get a little bit behind your hips (again, speaking from experience). The high back on this chair AGAIN restricts his movement in this aspect. Charles probably will have shoulder pain that may result in surgery down the road with this chair (because it looks SO MUCH like Ann’s chair and that’s exactly what Ann has been told will happen to her).
Second of all: I understand you’re just trying to make canon work and are not being bad people (please believe me, I know this), but absolutely no disabled person should have to switch chairs for mobility purposes multiple times a day. These chairs should be built for every day needs.Is wheeling on carpet a bitch with a manual chair? YOU BETCHA! Easy fix: take away the rugs; it’s Charles’ house. Is it more exhausting to go up hills in a manual? Oh my god, I don’t know how people do it, it is the worst. But maybe that’s a struggle that should be shown, instead of magically having him transfer to a new chair whenever a new problem arises? Think: would you like to cart around 47 different mobility devices that you would have to transfer in and out of just because your house and/or your chair, is not built for your life convenience? Maybe they should just build the chair better.It is a part of Charles and it always will be. BUILD. IT. BETTER.
Charles is lucky enough to be a multimillionare with his own lab/engineer to build chairs for him. Hank is 100% capable of making a chair that would defy any disabled person’s wildest dreams. Except…. it’s apparently more important that we just make the chair “look cool”. Never mind that 1. It doesn’t, 2. WHEELCHAIRS THAT WORK FOR DISABLED PEOPLE ACTUALLY CAN LOOK COOL TOO!! WHAT A CONCEPT.
I am just sick and tired of the way disabled people are portrayed in film and media 99% of the time. Wheelchairs are not sick gadgets to do whatever the fuck you want with. They are actual mobility devices that millions of people use, and truthfully representing the lives of those people is important. And hey, wheelchairs are fucking cool! They don’t need art direction to make them be chill! They just need good design, that again, reflects the ACTUAL LIFE the character lives. These are MOBILITY ASSISTANCE DEVICES. They are their legs. It is completely impractical and inconsiderate to think that a disabled person should just hop from chair to chair whenever the need arises.
Well, that was almost a spiritual experience. Thank you for that, madneto. I learned a ton from your righteous wrath.
Once again, this post provides a handy guide for first-time wheelchair users for what to look for in fit.
Random aside that highlights the individuality of wheelchairs… I absolutely can’t use a manual wheelchair to propel myself because the problem that makes walking difficulty means that repetitive stress on my arms and shoulders is equally problematic. Like it’s easier for me to walk than use a manual wheelchair and that’s not saying much. For me the magic “perfect” chair would have to allow me to be upright or almost fully reclined, while allowing indoors, outdoors and stairs. As it is, I mostly stay home, use electric carts in grocery stores, and if I must travel, we rent a scooter and I end up in pain anyway due to the posture it requires. Thankfully I can still walk short distances, usually. But the right device is the difference between being housebound and being in the world.
Some weeks ago, I reblogged a gifset of Mark Hamill talking about gay fans headcanoning Luke as gay, and expressing his support for them feeling free to interpret his character that way if they wanted to. I replied, talking about the importance of this kind of acceptance by a creator of fan interpretation. The original post is here, but I’ll duplicate my comments here for context:
He gets it, gets why seeing yourself in a character is important, and that is so rare. Too many creators and authors and actors get wrapped up in what their intent was when creating/writing/performing, and don’t see that the moment the work is out there, it’s open source for head canons, interpretations, fanworks and meta. This is all the more important for people of marginalised groups. So of course Luke is gay, if you read him that way. The power is YOURS not Mark’s, and he’s not so egocentric that he misses that. This should be far more common than it is, this generous acceptance of fan interpretation and evolution of canon.
And, I didn’t think any more about it, until yesterday morning, when I noticed I had a PM from a total stranger who’d seen my comment on a reblog somewhere. They asked some questions, I formulated a reply, and then we had a conversation which I think is important because it covers the intersection of straight privilege, the desire and push for diverse representation, and respecting the boundary between creators and fans.
I will forenote this with the fact that this conversation is being posted completely with the consent of the person involved. I have removed all identifying information as to the user, fandoms and ships mentioned in this discussion and anything else I think is too identifiable. If you think you can identify specifics, please do not add them to tags or reblogs or badger me for confirmation. This is purely posted because the discussion is applicable to most if not all fandoms, and might help to enlighten those who don’t understand the nuances of fandom (and transformative works and headcanons) for minorities but WANT to understand.
anon:Hello 🙂 I love what Mark says and I agree with him that it is perfectly ok to have an active fantasy life about a character. But I’m not positive I agree with everything you said in your comment and I’d like to ask you something:
If I watch a show that is based on two gay characters and I want one of the characters to be straight and I ship them with another character in a heterosexual relationship – that’s okay? Even if they are written as gay, but I don’t see them as gay?
Also, is it okay for me to push that agenda on the actor who plays him or her and say, oh but you’re NOT gay in the show, you’re really straight – you just don’t realize it? Would I be welcome with this interpretation or would I be considered homophobic for completely denying these characters are gay?
I don’t believe that interpretation by an audience should reach the level that the artist is forced to completely deny their intent to make said audience happy. Then it is like fascism or some form of rule that allows one section of the population to decide but the other section better watch itself. If art is truly free, then the audience should not attempt to control the artist by intimidation – it should at least be polite and also allow said artist his or her interpretation.
Just up late and sleepless – not trying to offend but to understand if there is a double standard at play here.
iamshadow21: The difference is, queer people and other minorities are denied representation. We have to look into the subtext to find characters like ourselves. When someone changes a queer character to straight, the situation is different because straight people have all the power, all the representation, and 99% of media is full of people exactly like them. You take a dollar from a guy with a hundred bucks, he’s probably going to be fine and not care. You take a dollar from someone who only has a dollar, you’ve stolen everything from them.
As for ‘pushing agendas’ on the actors, there’s a difference between politely asking and pushing an agenda. Agenda’s a pretty loaded word that’s been used by heterosexual people terrified of queer empowerment and civil rights for decades – we have an ‘agenda’, we want to ‘steal’ their children from them and convert them and make them satan worshippers and paedophiles. The fact that you used the word agenda when talking about forcing an orientation headcanon on an actor was probably an unconscious choice on your part, but you should be mindful that it is a word with a history and is a word still used in the present to fearmonger and oppress a minority that a large amount of heterosexuals would prefer would cease to exist. They would literally prefer we died, and if you think that’s exaggeration, just look at the protest movement in the early years of HIV/AIDS. Google Act Up and the ‘die-ins’ held just trying to get powerful straight people to give a shit, if you want to educate yourself futher.
I’m of the opinion that with a lot of fandom stuff, you shouldn’t cross the streams. Don’t be creepy, don’t do or say anything that might make the creators uncomfortable. This includes forcing a headcanon on them in the manner you suggested, be it gay, straight or otherwise. But asking a polite question about a character’s orientation, a character that doesn’t have a romance onscreen? I don’t see a problem with that.
As for your paralleling the desire and push for representation with art-crushing fascism, well. Wow. May I refer you to the first paragraph. We are awash in straight representation. Having gay characters and headcanons doesn’t diminish the plethora of them. But taking a canonically gay character and straightwashing them? You’re taking the dollar from the guy who only has one. As for attempts to force a creator to deny their intent, may I refer you to the paragraph on fandom and boundaries. There are, however, times when it is appropriate to push for greater diversity and representation in our media. For us to shout, because otherwise, creators forget we exist. They default to white/cis/hetero, because that’s the factory settings and unless there’s a vocal segment calling out for something else, that’s what we get. Yet another white bread sandwich, when all we want is one fruit salad.
If you really want to ship a canonically gay character with a person of another gender, I’m not going to flat out say you can’t. The joy of fandom is that your brain is a free place where you can imagine whatever the hell you want. You can create stuff based off it, too, though you might get shit for doing it, because when we get representation, it matters so much and we don’t like it being wiped out like it’s an inconvenience. One way to make your ship work without erasing the queerness? Consider whether your headcanon works if the character is bisexual. If gay people have a single dollar, bisexuals have fifty cents, and they mean you can have your ship without praying the gay away.
anon: Everything you said makes total sense and if there is one thing I wish for is that there is more representation and diversity so it’s not necessary to take a show that is written straight and look for subtext.
Apologies for using the word “agenda”. I wasn’t using it derogatorily against the gay community but just using it for lack of a better word that I couldn’t pull out of my head at 2 in the morning!
Anyway, let me explain a little more where I’m coming from on the artistic level, and you’ll probably understand why I asked you the question in the first place.
I meant to write to you from my main blog but accidentally sent from my secondary blog. My main blog is a [fandom] blog. Do you watch or know about the show? If you do, you will know what relationship I’m referring to and which actor I’m thinking of. Since season [#] of the show, [m/m ship] has been around. I don’t ship it, but I know many who do and many are very cool with it being fanon only and realize that it has not been, nor will ever be, declared canon. Show’s creator, writers and actors (well with the exception of one who in the past has liked to tease) have declared it not to be canon. However, there is a small part of the ship who are fairly vocal, and not always in a pleasant way. I have no problem with shipping, but I do have a problem when people who are disappointed that it has not been accepted as real, bully and bash the actors who have had to answer the same questions over and over at conventions. Even members of the ship find this behavior reprehensible.
Anyway, this is where I was coming from last night when I was wondering how it would feel to have the tables turned and have heterosexuals insisting – sometimes rudely – that two gay characters were straight. Shoe on the other foot kind of thing.
I’ve seen [actor] have to field these questions and I don’t envy him the task or the inevitable backlash that he is homophobic. He’s proven in his own life he’s anything but homophobic, but because he is being honest about what he sees his character (these fans think he is bi) as after [show run length] years, he gets penalized.
Anyway, the wheels of progress grind slowly, and over the years we’ve seen more and more gay representation on shows and in movies, and like anything else, it will take time. I hope TPTB in Hollywood will see the wealth of subject matter there and start producing more and more shows to represent the LGBT community and there will be enough artistic expression to go around. xo
iamshadow21: I don’t watch [show] but I’m aware of the popular ships, both in-show and RPF, and I can tell you without any hesitation that this is a case of fandom conspiracy theories/tinhattery and bad behaviour. It’s something that crops up in a lot of fandoms where people decide that their own headcanon is the only way and try to force it on the creators rather than being content to theorise and create transformative works. This isn’t really about the characters being gay or straight, it’s about a group of fans with an altered perception of reality and canon who are ruining it for the rest, and I’m sorry you have to deal with that in your fandom, but it’s very common. From [super threatening behaviour] in [other fandom #1] to the labyrinthine weirdness of [actor ship conspiracy theory] in [other fandom #2], every fandom has their subset of people who take it too far. That the ship in this case is a gay one is a peripheral issue, though it seems to you the primary one. It isn’t about representation at all.
anon: Your last sentence: that is so, so true…a friend of mine had some fantastic tags on one of the posts that recently dealt with another outburst of this fringe group and she really nailed it on the head (she is bi):
[I have removed the tag set because I didn’t have the OP’s permission to post it, but it covered the points that 1) she supported the actor’s stance 2) the fans in question were being inappropriate, threatening, and throwing shame on the fandom in general and 3) even if the actor did concede to their version to make them shut up about it, it wouldn’t be a true victory for social justice or diversity representation in media.]
But, no matter what forms of logic we use, it really never makes a dent in the delusion.
Well, thanks for chatting with me, it was interesting and I learned some things! xo
iamshadow21: Hey, no problem. Yeah, I was just going to add – ‘straightwashing’ in retaliation won’t change this subset’s mind because they are convinced of the verity of their beliefs, and only hurt those, like me, who long to see ourselves on the screen. So just step back and leave them be. Try and enjoy your fandom and don’t engage. Engaging never works. And they’re crying homophobia, but that’s just a word to them, a ‘reason’ for their reality not being real. It’s not the actual reality we live with. I mean, sure, without homophobia and queerbaiting, [ship] might be canon. But it might not. And the idea that it’s secretly coded into the show is magical thinking.
anon: Yes, I totally get that. And I think I forget sometimes and want to lash back, but you’re right, engaging never works. I really never do.
Oh they are convinced of that!
iamshadow21: Yeah, so don’t engage.
anon: Which is why [actor] lately looked straight at the questioner and said “[that ship isn’t a thing in the canon]” and of course the shitstorm happened. Poor guy.
iamshadow21: Because every time you do, you reinforce that there are ‘forces’ trying to prevent their love.
anon:Nope, I don’t follow anybody that messes up my dash lol.
YES!!
iamshadow21: It’s a delusion, a shared delusion, which makes it stronger because the core believers reinforce it amongst themselves. It’s what happens in cults.
anon: Wow it really is a certifiable delusion isn’t it?
Absolutely.
It is a cult.
Well, that being said, there is no more to be said other than don’t engage 🙂
Thank you.
iamshadow21: Yeah. So be aware, keep out of the mess, and don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s actually about social justice and representation. It’s about false belief.
Thank you for listening to my answers. I really hope it’s helped.
anon: I will remember your words and re-read this thread whenever I’m feeling murderous haha
It really did 🙂
For the last few days, like many other disenfranchised communities across the country, the disability community has watched what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri. Our hearts are heavy with sorrow, anger, and fear for what is happening to individuals, families, and communities so similar to our own.
Even following the release of the name of the police officer who was ultimately responsible for Michael Brown’s death, we must still come to terms with the tragedy itself. This is a tragedy not just because of the precious loss of life or the actions of one person, but is also a tragedy that is caused by the criminalization and dehumanization of our own citizens. It is a tragedy not only for Michael Brown’s family but for the entire country.
Perhaps, it is more honest to for us to say, it is yet another tragedy that has become all too common for communities viewed as “other” to the American majority – young men of color, people with disabilities, lgbt individuals.
“They didn’t comply.” They were “bad kids.” “They were being belligerent.” “They looked suspicious.”
These statements that have no real discernable meaning often warrant a death sentence for the individuals upon which the observations are based.
Eric Garner, 43, who had asthma, was pulled to the sidewalk onto his chest and restrained in a chokehold by an officer. The medical examiner cited that Garner’s cause of death was “compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” (New York)
Robert Ethan Saylor, 26, who had Down syndrome, went to see a movie and refused to leave. It was customary for Saylor to see a movie twice. Deputies put Saylor on the floor, held him down, and handcuffed him with such force that he suffered a fracture in his throat cartilage and died of asphyxiation. (Maryland)
Keith Vidal, 18, who had schizophrenia, was tasered, then shot, and killed when his family called law enforcement for help calming their son down. Vidal’s stepfather said, “”They killed my son in cold blood. We called for help, and they killed my son.” (North Carolina)
Gilberto Powell, 22, who has Down Syndrome, was beaten by police outside his home and was left with horrible bruises and scars on his face when law enforcement suspected he was carrying a weapon and tried to pat Powell down. Powell did not understand and ran. The suspicious bulge in his pants? It was a colostomy bag. (Florida)
Barry Montgomery, 29, who has schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome, and is non-verbal ,was harassed and then beaten and tasered for 25 minutes by sheriff officers when he was confronted about the smell of marijuana in his general area, and Montgomery did not respond. Montgomery sustained massive permanent injuries. (California)
Eric Garner, Ethan Saylor, Keith Vidal, Gilberto Powell, and Barry Montgomery – these are the names of a few people with disabilities who were brutally injured and killed because of who they are. There are many who were lost before them, and there are certainly others whose names we will never know because the brutality against them was never reported.
When a system that is designed to protect and serve is fueled by fear and anger, that is not merely a surmountable problem. It is a catastrophic failure of the system, and it demands transformation. Such a failure represents a lack of leadership, a corruption of institutions, and a distressing willingness to purposely and violently silence the voices of entire communities marked as different, non-compliant, and suspicious.
Perhaps what is most disconcerting however, is that the failure to support our young men of color, who are gay who have disabilities, who are poor, is not just to be laid at the feet of an intolerant police force, self-interested politicos or even a sensational hungry media. The fault lies in our own hearts.We have not taken enough of the responsibility to manage and maintain the values that we believe are right. We have been complacent in our engagement and been comfortable enough to declare that the problems are with other people. We have allowed ourselves to be separated into tiny groups of associated individuals rather than communities participating in a collective conversation about the state, direction and makeup of our society.
We have allowed problems of marginalization, exclusion, inaccessibility, dissemination, sexism and bigotry — problems that affect us all — to instead be addressed by a few, and have been content to say that it is a disability problem, or a race problem or gender problem or sexuality problem rather than admit that it is a problem for all of us. As members of a community that supports justice and inclusion we do not have the luxury to stand by when injustice is blatantly taking place in any form, and nor should we be satisfied to wait for other communities to ask for our help.
Civil rights, respect, and justice are due to all. We will not remain silent. The disability community, like the LGBT community, and so many others around the country, stands with the family of Michael Brown and with the people of Ferguson, Missouri. We call on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this story and others like it. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation. Let us all come together, not only to rally and mourn but also to plan for action and collaboration.
Lastly, we specifically invoke the words of Justin Dart in “a call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all.”
The Lead On Network
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Ollibean
Washington Metro Disabled Students Collective
Queerability
Ramp Your Voice!
Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD)
If you are a disability organization and interested in signing on to this statement, please contact us at LeadOnUpdate@gmail.com. If you are an individual with a disability who cares about this issue and supports this statement please share it widely. Also, we know you have your own thoughts to express and urge you to do so in the comments. We will not remain silent! The events of the last week touch us all.
We are honored to join leadonupdate, queerability, and others in signing on to this letter of solidarity with the Community of Ferguson, MO. Not only do we face related struggles, but there are undoubtedly Autistics in Ferguson, and definitely Autistics of Color who face the issues being struggled with and protested against in Ferguson across the nation and the world.
If you are a disability org, please join us in signing on to this letter. Instructions are at the end of the text.
Reasons to support this sign-on letter:
SOLIDARITY, All marginalized communities ought to stand in solidarity with each other;
INTERSECTIONALITY, When racism prevails, this often has the most disproportionate impact on people of color with disabilities—disabled people of color cannot be freed until freed of both ableism AND racism;
ITS TIME FOR PAYBACK, because people with disabilities (of all races) wouldn’t have some of the rights we enjoy today in the U.S. if it wasn’t for the help we received from Black Panthers in 1977: http://socialismartnature.tumblr.com/post/76951614367/black-history-of-504-sit-in-for-disability-rights-more So if you’re thinking, “Do we really “need” to get into what’s happening in Ferguson” … well, the Black Panthers didn’t really “need” to get into the 1977 section 504 disability rights sit-in protest either, but they still did. And they did it with actual dollars and cents that I’m sure they could have found a thousand other uses for that were more directly and more unmistakably relevant to their own struggles for the liberation of black people in America. The least we can do in return is to talk to disability organizations you’re familiar with about signing onto this sign on letter. Let the people of Ferguson know they’re not alone in their struggle.
Please! What are you paying for? If it’s for an item that is physically being shipped to you, then by all means continue! But if it is for digital art, please reconsider!
This means that paypal is expecting me to ship a physical item to you! And the more times that I receive money for goods, and do not ship through them, the more it counts against me. Too many and paypal can elect to hold my funds for thirty days every time I receive them, until it reevaluates my account. Which means while the customer has their deserved art, I do not technically have money yet.
So PLEASE always send payment for digital art via SERVICES and not GOODS!
(you can get a refund if need be just as easily by selecting services as you can goods!)
Some people emphatically prefer to be called people with autism. Others get very offended. Some people empathically prefer to be called autistic people. Others get very offended. There are reasons for all of that.
They have to do with the history of the intellectual and developmental disability community, the autism parent community, and the specific autistic self advocacy community.
For intellectual and developmental disability:
Most self advocates have a very strong preference for person-first language
Person-first language in this concept means “I am a PERSON, and I am not going to allow you to treat me as a disability case study, nor am I going to tolerate your diagnostic overshadowing.”
Autism is a developmental disability. There is a highly visible and destructive community of parents who consider themselves to be afflicted with their child’s autism. There is an autistic self advocacy community that developed in part specifically due to the need to counteract the harm being done by autism parents. The language someone prefers will often depend on which of these facts seems most important at a given time.
Regarding developmental disability.
Folks who are primarily involved in the IDD self advocacy community usually prefer to be called people with autism
This is for the same reasons people with any sort of developmental disability usually prefer person first language
In that context, “person with autism” means “I am a PERSON, and you are not going to treat me like an autistic specimen.”
Regarding the destructive autism parent community:
This parent community pushes the agenda of parents who believe that their child’s autism is a horrible tragedy that befell their parents and family
They call themselves the autism community, but they consistently refuse to include or listen to autistic self advocates (especially adult self advocates). They only care about neurotypical parent perspectives (and only from parents who think autism is horrifying)
They promote things like intense behavioral therapy for young children, institutionalization, group homes, sheltered workshops and genetic research aimed at developing prenatal testing. They do not listen to autistic self advocates who object to these things.
They don’t care about the priorities of autistic self advocates. They do not do any work on issues such as self-directed adult services, enforcing the Olmstead mandate to provide services in the community rather than institutions, or research into skills for listening to people whose communication is atypical
These parents have an emphatic preference for person first language. They say “people with autism.”
What they mean by this is “Autism is NOT a part of who my child is, it’s an evil brain slug attached to their head, and I want to remove it at all costs.”
There is also an autistic self advocacy community. It developed in significant part to counteract the harm done by the autism parent community:
A lot of the agenda of the autistic self advocacy community is the same as the IDD community and pursued in cooperation with the IDD community
But there is also a lot of work that’s specifically about countering the harm that has been done by the autism parent community
Much of the worst harm done by the parent community comes from the cultural consensus that autism is like an evil brain slug, and that any amount of brutality is a good thing if it might mean that the slug shrinks or dies
For this reason, participants in the autistic self advocacy community generally have a very strong objection to person first language
They call themselves autistic or Autistic.
In this context, “autistic person” means “Autism is part of who I am. I’m ok. Stop trying to get me to hate myself. You do not need to remove autism to make me into a full person. We are already people. Stop physically and emotionally mutilating people in the name of treatment.”
Neither set of self advocates are wrong. Both positions are legitimate and important to be aware of. In order to know what someone means by their language choices, you have to consider the context.
knitting in the dark 