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(via chameleonchild)
The Downfall of Feminism: Disabled People
tw: ableism
This one is going to get a lot of hate. I despise the Americans With disabilities Act (ADA) and not for usual reasons. In the US we have many historical buildings that are being forced to retrofit and honestly ruin their historic nature to install ramps, elevators, etc… Not okay with this. It…
FYI saying “Sorry if I offend” doesn’t make what you just said less disgustingly ableist.
I don’t have the energy to even begin to tell you everything wrong with what you just said and I’m really hoping someone else takes you up on it better than I can.I’m not really sorry for what I said…at all. I could give less than a shit abt. the newest fad -ism that you just mentioned. Destroying buildings to make a few people happy is stupid. Period. ADA supporters are no better than the Taliban destroying the Buddha statues in Afghanistan.
Ho boy. Okay. I said I didn’t have the energy for this but I also don’t want to let this go. Please bear with me here, I’m trying really hard to be reasonable but I’m asking you to also understand that I’m a little foggy today so I need some patience!
The first thing I want to address is that ableism isn’t “the new fad -ism.” A lot of people don’t realize this, but we actually have a really long history of systematic oppression - systematic institutionalization and forced sterilization was the norm for many, many years and while we’ve obviously come to a time where that’s not the case, we do still face a lot of discrimination in a lot of different venues. Things don’t have to be as extreme as murder, although it does happen (police mistaking a diabetic seizure or autistic meltdown for resistance have absolutely happened.) Today we face the issues of a society on the whole that doesn’t really “get it” on a daily basis - and inaccessibility is one of those things.
Here’s some handy links!
https://sites.google.com/site/lauraelkinspollack/about
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9671_022850_Albrecht_EntriesBeginningWithA.pdf
http://soaw.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=607
Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. A few weeks ago, she went out with her friends with the intent of going to a small art showing here in the heart of town. The building they were going to had three stairs. My friend uses a power chair due to a form of muscular dystrophy - and there were no ramps to allow her access to the building. Her friends had already committed to the show, and so my friend and one other sat outside, on the street, outside the building until it was over.
She didn’t want anything special. She didn’t want exclusive treatment, she didn’t want them to come out and carry her to the building on a throne. She simply wanted the same exact thing that every able-bodied person had - the ability to enjoy the art show.
I don’t think it makes her selfish to want the same thing that everyone else gets.
I live in a town surrounded by a couple of historic cities, and so I totally understand your desire to protect historic sites and buildings, but there IS a way to do that while also not excluding a massive subset of the population (just because you can’t see us doesn’t mean we’re not here - I’m a wheelchair user, but tons and tons of people with disabilities who need ramps and lifts aren’t immediately identifiable!) If you enjoy these sites enough to want to protect them, shouldn’t you want others to be able to enjoy their beauty and value, too?
There are better solutions to the problem of “destroying” historic sites in order to retrofit them to make them accessible to everybody, that aren’t “well, disabled people shouldn’t get to see these things.” It’s not about being selfish, it’s about equality. Part of the problem that so many retrofittings and remodelings of historic sites are done so poorly is because it’s really expensive and there’s no government assistance in order to make things accessible. When a business is faced with two options - either make the building accessible, or pay hefty fines - they inevitably go with the cheaper option, but that usually ends up in ugly, wooden ramps, poor design, the bare minimum. Bulky, out of place lifts, things that don’t match the feel or year of the place - perhaps if there were grants or assistance available to businesses in order to provide better solutions for accessibility, it would seem less like destroying the sites and more like enhancing them for everybody.
Happy April! 🌸
‘The Beast’ in all it’s glory - I can’t even fit it all in. Not even the 1977 filter can soften it’s sheer monstrosity 📊😱
Favourite colour, favourite glass
#blue #pizzaexpress #colour #glass #mothtoaflame #shiny
Daydreamer
My employer isn’t sure when my start date will be. So, tomorrow will consist of bus rides, buying 120 film, wandering around the museum and maybe the gym. I love not having anything to do and not feeling guilty about it for once :)
I got a job as a Production Secretary for a film production company.
