#ableism discourse

Is the handling of Leeza’s disability. Miraculous healing of paralysis is such a common trope in fiction, and I don’t like it. What does this mean to a paraplegic audience? What is this meant to do for them, either intellectually or emotionally? Where they even considered as a part of the audience of this scene? 

Leeza only seems to become a real character after she can walk again. Only then does she confront Joe Colly. Only then does she reciprocate the crush the boy has on her. Before she is miraculously healed, all anyone else can talk about is how tragic she is. Riley Flynn even chides the pastor for ‘standing by’ while she is ‘trapped in a wheelchair’ which is such a weird thing to complain about. First off all, the wheelchair is what affords her mobility. Imagining that she is better off without it conflates assistive technology with disability, pathologizing them both. Second of all, given that Riley doesn’t know that the pastor has healing powers and wouldn’t agree with their side-effects if he did, what does he expect the pastor to do about this? The series makes no reference to what people like Leeza would actually want or need. Accessability, community support. But we already know what disability means to able-bodied writers. It means a sad, isolated, dependent life. The only solution is to cure her. Then she can be a symbol of whatever the pastor, or the writers, need. She can kiss a boy, confront the man who paralyzed her.  Imagine what this implies for an audience member that doesn’t recover from their paralysis. If a disabled audience member buys into this framing, their life is just... inherently tragic.

I appreciate that Leeza loses control over her legs again, but it still feels like her character is bound up in whether or not she is disabled, as this is the last time we hear from her.

i really hate the rhetoric on here that its ableist to want a cure for your own mental illnesses/NDs because bc like trust me, if i could gve away my ptsd and adhd and bipolar disorder, i would in a fucking heartbeat while ALSO wishing for people to respect me and my illnesses.

Excusing acts of aggression against disabled people

Pretending they didn't happen

Trying to silence disabled voices on a subject matter (hi fuckers)

Ignoring ableist actions for the sake of looking at 'better parts' of a character ("yes, he beat up a man with a crutch, but look, he gave a treat to a puppy!!!")

Things that do not exhibit ableism in fandom:

--bleism. 1 in 32 people suffer with ableism. 1 in 1 if you’re a member of Autism $peaks or any of their affiliated organizations. I bet it was the Vaccines. 

EVERYONE! THE VACCINES CAUSE ABLEISM!

It’s not ableist person, sweetie. It’s person with ableism. 

Ableist people are such innocent, pure little babies who can’t fend for themselves. 

You don’t have ableism. My friend’s cousin’s sister’s grandma’s great-great-grandparents’ donkey’s monkey’s helicopter has a pet rattlesnake who knows an ice cream cone whose mom knows a glass of water with a brother who has briefly talked to a gummy bear whose tenth cousin ten times removed has a penguin who knows an amoeba suffering with ableism and you’re nothing like them. 

Ableism $peaks. It’s time to listen. 

like when tryna be a condescending dick on someone else’s post mad ppl just say shit like “this is why i hate straight ppl lmao” based on their automatic (and often incorrect assumptions) that OP is straight. it’s also sometimes based on the assumption that if OP says something you don’t agree with then they must be straight which imo isn’t Great bc it’s a weird pedestal people put ppl w/certain orientations on.

most importantly like not everyone feels comfortable disclosing their dxs or sexual/gender orientation on a public website!! like it literally takes two mins to not be an asshole and just. ask someone;,;

People really be wasting their time policing others language. Which is why i really hate people my age and younger on the internet.

At this rate we'll regress to having middle school standards. In fact ive already seen it during my time with undertale.

"um stupid is a slur :/"

Not everything is a slur. And you know what? Even slurs have their uses and places. And its also dependant on who uses them (something that is none of your business. Such as a black person using the n word, hispanic using any number of slurs or even asian)

Cripple for disabled people, midget for short people.

People can use these words! They're -mean- words but they also dont have to be?

You also arent entitled to demand somebodys complete information. "Well i have to be sure the right people are using this word!"

Okay, a straight person says queer. Is this okay?

Negative words for mental health are included in this. You cannot hope to police everyones language. Bitching and moaning will not change the cultural use of people saying things like psychotic, sociopathic, scitzo, or delusional.

You can dislike it. But you can't really say shit!

Why? It's not your place. Its not your place to demand other adults speak in ways that is acceptable to YOU.

I hate when black people use the n word! And i dont say shit because its not my place! If they want to reclaim it fine. I find it offensive and dont use it.

And thats how it is. If you find a word offensive. YOU do not use it. YOU have no right to demand another stops their language.

'b-but isms! Theyre blank ist for using that word!'

Is an older trans person transphobic for using 'transexual'? Is a lesbian homophobic and cruel for using 'dyke' or a gay guy using 'fag'?

X-men did it right when they say any word can be derogatory depending on how you say it. And sometimes? We need derogatory. If someone is delusion we use delusional.

Why? Because they are disconnected from reality. They are acting outrageous. Its not a dirty word!

"but what about people who suffer from delusions!" Were they the ones being talked about? Or was it something like an anon going off their own interpretation and being a pest? Were they even involved in the post?

I myself could say so many slurs cause im a pretty fucked up individual! I tend not to use them, because i get that people are sensitive. But there is a point where you are too sensitive. Too trigger happy to fight every battle. Policing others language? Is it really such a battle worth pissing in the wind for?

I get so irritated, particularly when we talk about proship and anti. Where a proshipper may call an anti psychotic, deranged, dangerous for spewing death threats. And then other proshippers hone in on the person for their language. To the point where antis dont even have to do any work.

You know they arent talking about mentally ill people. You know they're talking about this anons behavior, and how it is anti social, and is unacceptable. In a language they know and can use.

If you want to go there, might i say you are being VERY classist. Because not everyone knows what language to use, or how to use it to be acceptable to you.

This is not a liberal college. Stop acting like uppity college prep kids who just learned what cultural appropriation is. Stop acting like every time somebody uses a word you hate that they are committing a personal attack of violence on YOU.

ESPECIALLY, if they, by all other accounts are good people. You bite and claw and peck at people, who are overall fine people, because they decided to be short and to the point. Instead of going in a round about way, to talk in circles, to describe the behavior they're seeing.

Amplify this to the fact that we have so many... For lack of a better way of saying it, chunibiyo mental health people.

Delusions of grandeur but with a mental health twist. Instead of being werewolves or vampires, you think you have rare mental health conditions and then make it EVERYONES problem about how when they use the word associated with it, YOU take that personally.

I am SO sick of this behavior. You all act like you're twelve and somebody said Stupid and dumb while the teachers back was turned.

This is the online sphere. Hell in irl slurs mean nothing until they are used DIRECTLY. POINT BLANK, AT Y O U. Not even to somebody on a phone. Eye to eye face to face using a slur in a derogatory manner to your very face do these become a problem.

I fucking hate this online trend. And then you get surprised when people double down. Hell, they probably don't use those words besides those specific few occassions and you are just making it more of a problem. Im just, so fucking frustrated.