This week I’m getting my geek on a bit. I am now in the post-Game-of-Thrones era, and while I pretty much despised most of the last three episodes, there’s one thing in particular that rubbed me the wrong way. WARNING: This article is spoilery, so maybe stop reading now if you want to watch Season … Continue reading
Tag Archives: disability
Nothing Without Us own-voice anthology is on Kickstarter!
For the entire month of April 2019, the Nothing Without Us anthology is live on Kickstarter. At the time of this post, we raised 32% towards our goal, but we have a stretch goal of $6500 that we’d love to reach. This would result in a print book with illustrations, an eBook, and an audio … Continue reading
Me, ableist? That’s cr*zy!
Content warning: This article deals with terms that can be hurtful to people who manage disabilities, mental illness, or other medical conditions. I mention these terms to educate about why we should choose other words instead. If the title of this article made you cringe, then I feel hopeful because you recognized a term originally … Continue reading
Spoon Stealers, Week 4: Invisibility is my superpower!
We’ve all been there: you’re at an event, shopping, or just waiting for your ride, and someone plows into you as if you hadn’t been standing right there in plain view. Or they kicked your cane or walker as if it suddenly threw itself into their path. This. Oh, so much this, is what makes … Continue reading
Not Without Our Consent
Last week some fellow Spoonies shared something with me that really ticked me off, and I’d like to open up the topic of consent to a level some of you might not have thought about before. Those of us who use mobility devices such as walkers, rollators, and wheelchairs—to name a few—not only consider these … Continue reading
Disability Tropes 101: Upgrade My Body
The “Upgrade My Body” trope is one that is frequent in science fiction and other speculative media. This trope generally involves the notion of leaving the disabled or ageing body behind in order to transfer consciousness into another, more “durable” form. This form can involve a robot, android, clone, or another person’s body. I … Continue reading
Disability Tropes 101: The “Tiny Tim”
The trope that I call the “Tiny Tim” is the creation by an author of a disabled character whose exclusive role is to be an object of pity and in need of charity. I have used the name of the best known of these figures from Dickens—”Tiny Tim.” Tiny Tim doesn’t have a life outside … Continue reading
Disability Tropes 101: Manipulative Sympathy
I recently watched the musical Wicked, and one scene particularly stood out to me as problematic. It tied into a few other problematic representations of disability that I have encountered in literature, film, and television. In Wicked: The Musical , the main character’s sister, Nessarose, is a wheelchair user. During the performance, she, at various … Continue reading
You must write every day—my favourite BS notion.
I have been trying so hard to stay out of social media arguments these days, stopping myself from reading or writing comments. Mostly because I find it comes to nothing in the end and drains my spoons. But then a thing happened this week I couldn’t ignore. A quote appeared on my Twitter timeline from … Continue reading