Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Al Jazeera explores why disability clichés are so destructive for the community


You can watch the 25-minute report here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLnSDa-OhPM&feature=youtu.be

"'Disabled people are lazy and just need to get off their self-indulgent butts and do some hard work.' That’s just one of eleven tropes on disability that author Cindy Baldwin [who has cystic fibrosis] listed in a Twitter thread exploring old-fashioned narratives of disability and how they make people with disabilities feel.

“'We are also so shaped with these narratives in a very ablest society and people don’t recognise these tropes are harmful. They have active real life connections to the way people are treated,' Baldwin told The Stream.

"In this episode, we will use Baldwin's Twitter thread as the basis for a discussion on how these tropes are used in the media, pop culture, literature, politics and more. And we will explore why accurate representation and authenticity are so important."

Also on the report were Lawrence Carter-Long, the Director of Communications for Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) and Maryangel Garcia-Ramos of the Mexican Women with Disabilities Movement (pictured).