Thursday, October 10, 2013

What's It All About: Ableism

If the implied imperative of sexism is something like: "Women must be dominated and subservient", then what do we think is the implied imperative of ableism for people with disabilities?
  • You must be made normal, acceptable
  • You must be covered up, disguised, hidden
  • You must be less disturbing, disruptive, upsetting
  • You must be eliminated, phased out
  • You need protection, supervision, monitoring
  • You must make us feel good, otherwise you'll make us feel bad
I think all of these describe part of what people with disabilities experience as "ableism". At the same time, I don't think it's enough to apply the "ableism" label to, "all bad things that happen to a disabled person."

So, what IS ableism all about?

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