#disibility representation

[hrizantemy]

Why did I just see a post making fun of Chaol’s disability?? Like… be so serious for a second. I don’t care if you love him, hate him, or feel neutral—mocking a character for becoming disabled is just nasty.

I don’t have strong feelings on Chaol either way. I think he’s human, he made mistakes, and he had flaws, but he’s not some irredeemable villain the fandom makes him out to be. He did what a lot of characters did—he messed up, he learned, he grew. And the fact that he went through a brutal, life-altering injury, struggled with his identity because of it, and had to redefine his own worth was actually one of the most raw, real, and well-written parts of his arc.

Like, if you want to drag him for his actual character flaws, fine. But making fun of the fact that he became disabled?? That’s not fandom discourse, that’s just gross.

[butch-hankhill]

I’m currently making a video on disability representation in House. I think it’s perfect besides the nit picky part of me who wishes House was played by an actual disabled actor, which got me doing research on how Hugh Laurie was able to play a pretty convincing disabled guy (I’m aware that he uses the cane wrong for most of the show, I am just gullible) and if the limping had any long term effects on him.

He was so committed to the fake limp that he was doing it off screen and HIS LEGS WERE JUST LIKE THAT FOR YEARS??? He also took Vicodin. This is the most bizarre, and my personal favourite, method acting story of all time

Usually I hate method acting because I feel bad for their costars but I feel bad for the amount of stress he put his body through. I’ve never seen someone method act a disability let alone to the point where it manifested a real temporary disability??? Anyways I might method act being abled and see if that cures me or something

[unicornsvsglitter]

I just rewatched japan sinks with some friends and I have so many thoughts on that show. In just ten episodes this show manages to be absolutely devastating and make me cry… twice, but also leave me with a weird sense of hope and closure that’s hard to find.

1. Everyone who has seen the show either loves it, hates it, or didn’t finish it. Which I’m not one to dis peoples options, but the main reason people don’t like the show makes zero sense. The main criticism I’ve seen is that it kills off too many characters. But like… it’s a show literally about japan sinking, are you surprised that it’s a tragedy where lots of people die??? I mean I was a bit shocked, but I thought the show was going to be about more of a metaphorical japan sinking (like maybe some sort of political unrest) not a literal one, but simply reading the show’s description would have made me realize I was wrong.

2. Disability representation. They had every opportunity to kill of Onodera and just say he died because that’s what happens when you effectively in the apocalypse and mostly paralyzed, but the main group, specifically Kite it like fuck it, no man left behind, idc if I’m putting my life in the line for this dude who can’t walk, talk, or move anything other then his fingers and toes, he’s one of us and god damn it, he’s not dying on my watch. There were 2 main scene where it was almost set up to kill him, but the didn’t. In a show that, once again, as far as there characters are concerned takes place during the apocalypse, had everyone going out of there way to take care of the disabled character and saw him as just as important as everyone else.

3. Trans representation. I love so much that Kite is trans and they don’t really make a big deal about it. It is never explicitly said, and only shown in one scene. He’s just (I think, if I’m remembering correctly) the top YouTuber in Japan, a complete and total badass, many children’s role model, who also just so happens to be trans. There’s a few other examples of lowkey queerness in the show, but Kite is the biggest example.

4. (Major spoiler warning) To me, I think the big appeal of the show is it has just the right amount of hurt comfort. Other then the dad, every major character death has a reason, and for lack of a better term accomplished something. Like Koga has one of the most devastating deaths I’ve seen animated, and one of only two scene in a show that has ever made me cry, but he dies 1) while doing what he loves and 2) while saving a memory disk that is used later on to help rebuild Japan. The mom is another example is the moms death. Her death is the only other scene in a show to make me cry and 1) once again, she died doing what she loves and 2) she died to save her children. She went fuck it, imma die anyway, might as well have one last hurrah and be a total badass.

I have many more thoughts on this show that I may post at a later date, but these are the big ones.

[wolfertinger]

salem's ratmouse oc deeply peeves me as a physically disabled person. i dont expect tiptop representation from every artist i see out on the street but since salem wants to be such a good representantive i'll give myself a pass. it definitely feels like hes only physically disabled with a visible walking aid "for the rep". it's such a common thing for physically disabled character in media to only be shown disabled and never be truly acknowledged as such beyond visuals because thatd be Uncomfortable!!! and that feels like exactly what hes doing here lol

drawing good depictions of physically disabled people being sexy and cool in media and being a good ally doesnt just mean drawing 1 character with a disability aid it means acknowledging their disability and the inconveniences and their EXPERIENCE with it. but i guess thats the theme with all his characters. all visual no depth

i have noted, many disabled people have an issue with salem, as of late. to salem. "disability" means, invisible disbility, with a walking cane. not being wheelchair bound. or an amputee. or being, partially paralized. or being disfigured.

salems desire, for "rep", is more about his desire for attention. because note, he never draws the "unattractive", forms of disability. just invisible disibility. he himself, claims to be disabled. but considering, he never leaves the house, only doom scrolls, and spends 16 hours a day hunched over a phone, drawing with his finger. no wonder, you say you are in "constant pain".

[le-trash-prince]

Honestly I'm already gearing myself up for criticisms of Methas as a possibly villanous/red-flag cane user who may or may not make a recovery through physical therapy (do not spoil me on this or i will curse your family) and how people may interpret what the story is saying about ~every single person with a disibility~ when all I really want to do is just enjoy the fuck out of his existence.

and I am already feeling like i would have to disclose things about myself just to justify enjoying ~bad representation~ because so many people are always like "as an xyz person, this hurt me therefore it is unequivocally bad." well guess what, the sun hurts me on a daily basis, but you don't see me calling the sun problematic.

Like I think it's fine to talk about how a character may have personal meaning to you, and I will often do it myself, but it just gets irritating when it feels like you have to justify your right to enjoy something in a particular way without people judging you for it (i can't avoid being judged negatively but by god do i wish it was possible)

[hiphop2horror]

Outside of this ad pushing for a specific body type to be considered "beach body ready," this ad also inadvertently pushes that only able-bodied individuals can be considered beach-body ready. This sort of thing seems like it's a small issue, but with ads continously pushing these perfect ideals of femininity with only able-bodied people, the irritation can build up. As Lauren "Lolo" Spencer stated, advertisements should be normalizing desirability for disabled folks. They should be all inclusive.

In general, advertisments that are more provacative aren't inherently bad until you look at the connotation of what's being sold. All women should deserve to feel confident about themselves. That's why asking a question like "Can representations of disibility be sexy?" is not the wisest question to ask. It implies that there is an overarching belief that all representations of disabled individuals are not seen as sexy or desirable. It means we have to open discourse over how disabled people should be viewed, further alienating their existance as if they aren't human like the rest of us. There should be a normalized desirability of diasbled folks along with the rest of society.

Halimat S

[writing-with-olive]

From an abled person: Why representing disibility is so important

This is less of the numbered list-style post type that I’ve been using, and rather, more of a story.

When I was growing up, I was increadibly ableist. I’m not going to describe the extent of it exept in relevant examples, mostly because I have no need to randomly list off ableist beliefs when they’re more likely to inspire more ableism than not, but I will say this: it was bad.

For most of my childhood I didn’t see a lot of disability represented in the books that I read. I didn’t really know it existed much, especially since I’m abled, as is and was the rest of my family. I didn’t really have much personal experience. While I knew it was rude to say things about random people, especially rude things, it in no means stopped me from thinking them.

The first realisation that I might not have the full picture, and that these beliefs of mine were flawed was when I was reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Greene. In the story, Hazel has cancer, and to help her survive, she had to have tubes in her nose that would bring her more oxygen. I had seen this before when I was out in public, but my thoughts were always “If you smoke, that’s what’s going to happen; I guess you deserved it.” Which is a shitty, shitty way of thinking. Period. But I didn’t know that. I had always heard that smoking destroys your lungs, and it does (there’s also addiction to contend with here, which is a mental disease), but no one “deserves” to have to use technology in order to keep them from literally dying. 

(how I’ve begun to change and more on why representation of why disiblity is so important under the break)

After reading The Fault in Our Stars, I did realise what was wrong with my thoughts. And as I read other books (Still few and far between because there’s not nearly enough representation), I realized that a lot of the ableist thoughts and beliefs I had were both straight up wrong, and also hurtful.

So I started to change my actions. I started learning about more disabilities, both physical and mental. And I started replacing those realy ableist beliefs with things that were not so hurtful. And it has started to change my outlook on the world; a lot fewer people are “helpless” or “deserve it” which honestly makes it easier to connect with people, and also makes it easier for me to understand the broad range of stories everyone has.

It’s been a long journey to completely change this set of beliefs. And despite how far I’ve come, I still have a ways to go. But it’s important to remember that it was a lack of representation that caused me to start thinking like that in the first place, and it was the presence of representation that started me on this path to be a less shitty person.

So some key points

1) Ableism is learned, especially when there’s little to no media to counteract that learning

2) You can become not ableist

3) Representation of disibility is important even to people who are not disabled, because it helps prevent hate

4) There needs to be a hell of a lot more representation.

[jasper-stims]

I'm thinking of starting an "Actually Autistic" amino. I'm not the biggest fan of amino itself but I love some of the features it has.

My plan would be to make it as accessible as possible and for it to have categories regarding disability representation, life skills/how-to videos, disibility activism/history, pages for stimming and special interests...

Also I'd like to use it as an opportunity to de-center verbal, low-needs, white autistics for a while. Obviously it depends on who all joins but I'd love to have some nonspeaking members, highlight perspectives from people with intellectual disabilities, and just hopefully give people an opportunity to see a less tiktok-ified version of what being autistic is like. I think people focus more on trying to be the "most correct/palatable" than actually listening to disabled/marginalized voices.

It's still definitely in the beginning stages, but if you'd like to join and make some suggestions, here's the link!

[butch-hankhill]

I need ableds to come up with new jokes bc commenting “omg dr. House?” Or “TIMMAY” under videos of disabled people just existing is NOT the banger joke you think it is 🫶 you’re ruining those characters for me 💔💔💔

[sweatingpants]

my kink is when miNORITIES GET FUCKING REPRESENTATION IN TV AND BOOKS AND SOCIAL MEDIA BC YES THEY EXIST TOO THE WHOLE WORLD ISNT WHITE AND STRAIGHT AND HETEORSEXUAL AND PHYSICALLY/MENTALLY ABLE thank you

[dunmertitty]

like you know, when he made a mistake in his writing, people told him and he, YOU KNOW, apologized and said he would do better in the future. (instead of throwing a fit and blocking everyone who calls you out)

when he has actual LGBTQ+ characters that he has in the book. that stay alive (or COME BACK TO LIFE).

disibility representation.

mental health representation.

many characters of color (and characters of color that aren’t stereotypical)

characters of different religions (in books about mythology!!)

and every character is so much more than a caricature of their stereotype. so, well rounded characters. you know, like good writers are SUPPOSED to have.

ALSO! he used his money to found “Rick Riordan Presents” which features writers (so far, 4 WoC and 3 MoC) who write diverse books for kids, so all kids can read books about kids like them.

THAT is how you use your privlidge to help other people.

rick riordan is like like jkr… but good