Month: October 2021

Bridge the Gap, See the Future, Disability Visibility Review

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The pieces functions through very personal stories, the real lived experiences of the authors. There is usually one or two common themes in these stories as the author places the disability lens over certain topics. They usually present the problem: marginalization, impostor syndrome, facing oppression and othering, and end with a fairly positive outcome of their experience. Most of these outcomes are internal, of acceptance or finding a community, with some expressing a call for change, to provide to charities and to open up the line for conversation and in-depth discussion.

The book features diabled stories, but could be especially valuable to abled people as well. For the book’s disabled audience, it serves to be a sort of crip space, where stories of disabled people are open to be shared in all their complexity. For the abled audience, this book serves to be both informative, by making an effort to share these stories and call to action that change that has to be made to accommodate disabled people. It explains how accessibility would help everyone once it is achieved. Through innovation, contribution, research and spreading awareness, disabled people would not only be seen, but also heard and accommodated for. 

It explored the complexity of allyship, found within family, friends and in the workplace, although the latter of the three is more in light with the importance of accessibility, and the awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of everyone who occupies a space. When it comes to fields and the workplace, employers keeping an openness to disability would only serve to welcome new perspectives into the workforce, Wanda Díaz-Merced shares her story with her unique perspective, “I think science is for everyone. It belongs to the people, and it has to be available to everyone, because we are all natural explorers” (172).” Not only is the workforce in need new voices, but there are many social aspects of disability that people ought to learn more about. 

Alternative options for disabled people to participate in traditions that usually abled people could participate in without issue. Maysoon Zayid explored such limitations, saying ““I miss fasting, but I’m happy to take on my newest mission of reminding those who can’t fast that there is no reason to put themselves at risk. Muslims fast so they can suffer a little. It is important not to die in the process.” (Pg. 38)” The physical availability of the world is also of importance, Sandy Ho  explains that, “As a marginalized disabled person I want it all: for all of us to remain as fixtures in our shared worldviews, for the space to do more than survive, and for our voices and presence to experience the indelible freedom that comes with being louder.”(116) The world has perpetuated the idea that the abled person is to be catered to whilst disabled people must struggle to find spaces for them to be allowed to fit in, this book explains how backwards that logic is in the most personal of stories.

RAB: Imposter Syndrome and Parenting with a Disability

Limbo92 Comments

Imposter Syndrome and Parenting with a Disability by Jessica Slice 

Summary: 

In this emotional and heartwarming short narrative, author Jessica Slice speaks on what it is like to go through motherhood so far while living with a disability. Slice was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which greatly complicates how she moves, what environments she can be in, and daily physical activities in general. Khalil, her son, was a foster child that Slice and her husband lovingly took in when he was a baby. Khalil’s infancy stage was her favorite because their physical needs/capabilities were compatible. She got to spend an ideal amount of time with him. They were able to have physical closeness that is important to a mother and child. As Khalil grew up and entered his rambunctious toddler stage, she was not able to continue that level of closeness. More and more Khalil was mainly out of the house. As most of us know but do not acknowledge, a lot of what being a mother can be is typically emphasized on physical capability. Slice’s illness brought on a feeling of imposter syndrome because she did not meet that image of “mom” we so often see. However, she reminds herself of two important things. One, Khalil will get older and become mentally/verbally mature. He will begin to understand his mother more and her needs, as she will with him. Their bond will only grow stronger. Two, she has almost mastered the emotional and mental aspects of parenting. That is, to support, listen, and care for your own child’s mental well-being.  

Quotes: 

“Fortunately, love isn’t a collection of capacities, of practical contributions. My love isn’t diminished by my inability to carry my son up the stairs, just as it isn’t diminished by the fact that I didn’t carry him in my uterus.” (Pg. 132) 

“He knew I was there for him, even if my body wasn’t.” (Pg. 133) 

“Years of restricted movement have trained me to attend, to slow down, to savor.” (Pg. 132) 

This one made me tear up in the best possible way. Not because I felt sad or inspired. I felt that for the first time, I was hearing a parent embrace the importance of emotional connection with their child. As mentioned previously, we tend to focus on the physical. Playing games with your child, taking them to fun places, and having nap time. It’s not that any of that is unimportant, rather there comes a point where that child grows up. Kids who do not feel emotionally safe and supported by their parents will not get on well later in life with processing difficult things. Another part of Slice’s piece I liked is how she defined what love is not. Love can never be restricted to the body when the mind within can do so much without needing every function of the body. You don’t physically see love, you feel it.  

Sexcapades of the Sinless and More: A Sins Invalid Review

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Sins Invalid is a short film exploring a performance piece put on by disabled artists based in San Francisco. The performances vary in a range of unique expression but relate to the idea of sexual freedom, beauty in identity, and loving different bodyminds in different ways. Viewers get insight on the stage performance itself as well as behind the scenes. Co-Founder of Sins Invalid, Patricia Bearne, is shown speaking to her artists and reacting to their performances before they go on stage. This BTS footage is a clear showcase of how close the entire cast can be, and how special the art is to everyone involved. The addition of various types of art forms from each artist is something refreshing for the whole audience.  

A common important theme, and dare I say tone for this show, was that of an intimate one between artist and audience. While not every piece related to sexuality or sex itself, it dealt with the human body. A different bodymind than what is mostly represented in society. With that, expect to see nudity, stories of sexual encounters, and a brief tragic history lesson on euthanasia. While some might want to steer clear of that for personal reasons, I was able to admire the honesty. It did not just feel like being an audience member, it felt like performers truly got to be themselves possibly for the first time. That is not something I think many people in general get to experience nor are willing to for that matter. As s.e. Smith said, it felt as if “All the barriers between us have fallen away” (Pg. 271) once it began and all throughout.  

One performer by the name of Matt was on stage while audio of ableist and violent statements were thrown at him. He dodges, fights back, and bleeds on stage as if the voices were assailants attempting to kill him. This one in particular stands out the most to me. The point of his work may be obvious, but I feel it can go a step further if analyzed deeper. In that moment Matt was a victim of normalization as many people are. Normalization being a set standard of what bodies should be able to do and what they should like as well as expected behaviors associated with the bodymind. I think his performance showcased this well because of the different voices in different settings that were abusing him. Normalization is a disease. There will always be one group in power enforcing it, but that groups members can be switched out from time to time. You might be thinking why that is and author Tim Dean can explain. “Normalization does not exclusively bolster the interests of the so-called normal, since it also puts them at risk” (Pg. 144). Normalization may not switch continuously, but people do change. Even if you fit into “normal” you may not always.  

The first performer we see on stage is seen taking off her prosthetic legs and washing herself in bed. During this, she remembers a love-fling and goes into great detail about their sexcapades. This was yet another favorite of mine because it begins our show with the ultimate closeness and in my opinion, empowerment. You could tell from her movement and voice it was a happy memory for her. Two parts of this I found the most important. One, the fact that someone from the disabled community was able to display their sexuality free of judgement. And two, normalizing different types of relationships such as a casual sexual one where the woman was not degraded or shamed. I believe this opening felt powerful enough to be an example of someone from the disabled community “actively owning” a space as Smith writes (Pg. 272), and I could not be more encouraging of that energy.  

Overall, this show earns a 4/5 star rating from me. One main point of emphasis felt related to the idea of de-sexualization of those with a disability. Often people wrongly assume they are asexual or call them asexual which is not only the wrong terminology (asexual an identity a part of the LGBTQ+ community is not equivalent to de-sexualization) but a false, ignorant narrative. Many people may wonder how people with physical and mental disabilities have sex to begin with. If you are one of those people, I recommend reading some literature on relationships within the disability community. Additionally, there is such a thing as medically assisted sex. Vice recently put out a piece on this titled “Inside The World of Medically Assisted Sex.” The purpose is to encourage sexual freedom and desires of those who have been restricted from it physically and socially through payment of another person to service someone. Once you’ve done some light education, then I advise you to watch this beautiful art performance if you’re into some abstract thinking.   

Being, Becoming, Doing, Connecting: A Review of “Disability Visibility”

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Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century may be over 300 pages, but is among the faster-paced books you will read this year. Opening with an introduction by the collection’s editor Alice Wong, Disability Visibility features the writing of 34 artists, scientists, devout worshippers, authors, critics—sharing their insights on disabled life, activism, and community. Each chapter falls between two and ten pages of light autobiographical prose, and although each is unique in its own aspect, the variety of perspectives come together as a vibrant mural to prove that disabled never equals defective, and that wellness is both personal and relative.

Examining the four subheadings of the text— Being, Becoming, Doing, and Connecting— gives a fuller picture of the aim of Disability Visibility, a narrative documentation of each author’s journey from invisibility to proud self-embodiment. Each writer begins from the circumstances of their life, and choose a true personal story which best illustrates the complex intersections of their disability to their social life, relationships, employment, and aspects of identity (sex, gender, orientation, race, class, etc.). The way that the world reacts to disability is centralized among these, because issues of accessibility begin with the design of our society. Reyma McCoy McDeid, an autistic treasurer and author, shares on page 220 (a chapter entitled “Lost Cause”) that once she disclosed her neurodivergence at the disability advocacy center where she worked, the atmosphere changed drastically. “My coworkers, all passionate about serving people with disabilities, did not appreciate having a disabled coworker.” She was repeatedly discouraged from running for office after disclosing her neurodivergence at work, but this did not stop her.

So, it’s not just stigma and self-confidence; ableist rhetoric leeches into the public mind and informs our definitions of health, beauty, and even life itself. These perceptions can be positively and negatively biased, but almost always come from a place of assuming nondisability in society. Ariel Henley, the author of “There’s a Mathematical Equation That Proves I’m Ugly—Or So I Learned in My Seventh-Grade Art Class”, provides an unusual example: using the Golden Ratio to determine objective beauty on a ten-point scale. She writes on page 61 that “Never had an individual been ranked a perfect ten, but still we lived in a society that found the need to measure and rate and rank and score.” These measurements of the face and body belie measurements of self-worth, incredibly damaging for a young disabled girl who already feels too noticeable. On the converse, though equally bizarre, page 24 of Disability Visibility’s first chapter, “Unspeakable Conversations” by Harriet Mcbryde Johnson, describes the way that positive biases can be equally confusing and degrading. “There is also the bizarre fact that, where I live, Charleston, South Carolina, some people call me Good Luck Lady: they consider it propitious to cross my path when a hurricane is coming and to kiss my head just before voting day.” Can you imagine being kissed by a stranger on the street, and being told that the assault counts as a favor towards their preferred candidate? This is the power of Disability Visibility; it puts you in someone else’s shoes, and for a few pages, you experience life in tandem with the speaker. The benefits in perspective are enormous. 

So, this book is for you if disability is present in your life, and this book is for you especially if it is not. The great advantage of Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century is that it is an ethnography which reads like a diary. In other words, this book is for graduate-level reference, and this book is for high school libraries. It’s not necessarily scientific, and the writing style rarely strays from personal narrative, but this holds a power of its own because each piece has its own voice. In short, if you’ve ever wondered how to discuss, describe, and include disability in your conversations with compassion, please read this book.

An anthology of hidden realities: A review of Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

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“There’s something horrifying about realizing people don’t see you as an adult when in fact you are an adult.” (135, Sjenneson)

The quote above comes from “How to Make a Paper Crane from Rage”, a contribution to Disability Visibility by Elsa Sjunneson, where Sjunneson discusses her experience with her anger and how the world defined her by her emotions as invalid. This just one of many personal narratives documented in Disability Visibility. Each entry captures the distinct views and life experiences of its author, allowing a small insight into their reality. Most entries are around 3-5 pages long allowing the reader to sit, enjoy a short story, and have time to reflect upon what they just read without information overload. This is a very effective presentation for the narratives included, as allows the audience to digest each message and work through their personal thoughts on the issues discussed.

Disability Visibility is Academic yet Personable. This is the books strongest feature. The reader feels like they are being talked to by a person passing by on the street. Each author has their own tone, but none are extremely clinical or academic. The anthology allows each featured author a moment to shine, to take up some space. “Taking up space as a disabled person is revolutionary” (115), as Sandy Ho states in her chapter (“Canfei to Canji”). The reader gets a chance to know them, hear their views, to humanize these voices. This allows a greater retention of each author’s messages, as one feels like they are personal being talked to and can find some familiarity in a topic foreign to many. This also allows for even the most skeptical of readers to find something to relate to, something they will engage with.

The beauty of Disability Visibility is the way every narrative differs from each other, but clear themes appear as one reads the book. Not all the authors have the same world views making these themes much mor meaningful. Sentiments such as “…. for me to claim the label, when I didn’t feel “disabled enough”, felt disingenuous” (56, Eric-Udorie) are expressed multiple times in completely different context. On the other side of the coin, many times a sentiment like “Crip space is unique, a place where disability is celebrated and embraced… (273)” appears. This wide swing in visible opinions allows the reader the opportunity to build a well-rounded picture of disability. This is the main reason I would suggest this book to people, especially if they have little experience with disability. I would also like to say it has been very enlightening as someone with some experience. Learning about struggles others have faced and how they work around those struggles has been inspiring and view-shifting. Over all I would rate Disability Visibility , 4.5/5.

Readers will find overall the personal experiences are mildly alarming at the worst. However, I can guarantee there will likely be one or two entries that are disturbing or triggering. These chapters will probably be different for every person. So, I think some cation is healthy when reading certain chapters. Though, if possible, I think everyone should try to read those chapters.  I have found that each chapter is impactful in its own unique way, and by skipping some you are missing out on a journey. That being said mental health and wellness is a bigger priority than learning a new perspective.

The Power of Personal Narrative

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Disability Visibility is a collection of personal essays edited by Alice Wong. The goal of this collection is to offer insight and perspective into what it is like to have a disability. The stories share different people’s experience with disability and how society’s misconceptions and mindset towards those who are disabled has come to effected them in positive and negative ways. Each story is deep, personal, and offers a new lens into a life experience that many people are not familiar with or haven’t thought about. This collection causes us to self reflect on the way that we see and treat others in our society and community versus how they wish to be treated and seen as. It breaks down stereotypes and offers first hand accounts of what it is to be marginalized, discriminated against, and the obstacles that are faced (the obstacles we may not have originally thought of facing) when one has a disability. Not only this, but the book also focuses on people marginalized by their disability finding the spaces where they feel belonging, “Members of many marginalized groups have this shared experiential touchstone, this sense of unexpected and vivid belonging” (272).

The audience is meant to be people who are interested in learning more and breaking down their own misconceptions of disability and disability studies. Those who read it will come out with a new perspective and outlook on the disability community. This book is meant to be read by those interested in the experience of being a part of the disability community, to learn more about what that entails and what the benefits are from finding a place where one belongs. It’s about watching other people’s perspective towards their disability, religion, society, politics, and more change, “When I walk into that church service, I am not the believer that I used to be.” (58).

This communication is done through personal essay, the stories and memories of those with disability that deem these moments as valuable and worth relaying. The social expectation of this form of communication is that each essay offers a vulnerable, personal story, that contains some sort of lesson the writer learned and feels needs to be shared and learned by others. Often, these are stories from childhood that have stuck with and influenced us our entire lives, “I am ugly. There is a mathematical equation. to prove it. Or so I was told by they that sat behind me in my seventh-grade art class.” (39). These narratives are usually told in a story telling form and don’t follow an academic structure. They can be poems, essays, even verse.

In the end, I loved this book. It changed my perspective and made me look at disability and the disability community in another light. I was able to connect with the writers both personally and emotionally. I feel like I’ve been opened up to a new community and I would definitely rate this a 5 star read.

Furthering Conversations: A Review of “Disability Visibility”

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“Disbability Visibility” is a compilation of essays and short-stories from the 21st Century written by people with disabilities. Compiled by editor Alice Wong, the essays and short stories feature narrative glimpses of the lives of each author, from childhoods to relationships, from careers to activism, each story has follows the thread of disability into the intersections of everyday life. “Disability Visibility” is an anthology written both for the people who have never felt seen, and for people who want to expand their horizons and understand the complexity of our human nature. It is a chance for the authors to amplify their voices, their impassioned words giving insight into our perceptions and the reality of just how every experience is unique. It is a chance for the reader to grow in empathy and understanding towards your neighbor, and a must read for those who want to explore disability and intersectionality from a lived-experience perspective.

Authors like Shoshana Kessok, who walk the reader through the complexities of the medical system and the misguidance of bipolar disorder, help readers to get a glimpse of the fallacies of healthcare. But Kessok doesn’t leave the reader with the complications of getting your medications adjusted and the never ending appointments. Rather, they acknowledge that once you receive the help you need, your life can stabilize, and reaching out for help is always better than suffering alone. They talk about the interweaving of mental illness with creativity and how so many people feel that real artists have to suffer (mentally, physically, emotionally etc.). Kessok says, “I read books about people theorizing about the connection between mental illness and creativity and I shake my head. I don’t need to know the connection, because if there is one, it doesn’t matter to me. I take my medicine and work my craft at the same time because I don’t need to suffer as an artist” (Kessok, 187). Stories like these battle against society’s preconceived notions and reveal the truth about mental illness, while also serving as cautionary tales of putting too much truth into stereotypes.

Each story is unique, as unique as the author who crafted them, and stories about feeling different are not uncommon. June Eric-Udorie speaks about how having nystagmus made her feel broken, always praying for healing that would never come. In “When You Are Waiting to Be Healed”, she acknowledges the desire to be without disability and the sometimes confusing choice one can make when coming to terms with the identity of “disabled”. But she also acknowledges the joy of understanding yourself. “I come to church happy in the body I exist in; I come to church knowing that I am not a mistake waiting to be fixed,” June says (Eric-Udorie, 58). June gives the reader an understanding of growth and healing beyond definition, providing concepts that may fight with the reader’s previous conceived notions of healing.

This anthology is a series of love letters to the understanding of yourself, a celebration of difference, and a reconciliation between the past and the present. It proves that there is no predetermined way of living, that there is a freedom in expression and value in being in relationship with others who share a thread of understanding. “Disability Visibility” works around the reader’s biases, scraping away the force-fed egregious narratives fed to us by society and replacing it with bubbles of the lived experience of people with disabilities through all aspects of life. Ariel Henley, whose essay titled, “There’s a Mathematical Equation That Proves I’m Ugly”, which redefines our understanding of beauty, sums up the artistry found in each essay with a beautiful quote about her experience. “But art isn’t necessarily about beauty. Art is supposed to make you feel something, and I began to realize my appearance was my art. My body, my face, my scars told a story- *my* story” (Henley, 46).

A compendium of innovation, beauty, and wholeness, “Disability Visibility” is a quick read, offering readers a chance to see themselves and to see the lived experiences of people with disabilities. This book shows readers how empathy is the answer, and how we get there is by viewing each and every person, just as they are, seeing the value in all of our varied experiences. 5/5

If You Can’t Fast, Give – RAB style response

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“If You Can’t Fast, Give”, Maysoon Zayid, from Disability Visability

This chapter is comparatively short when it comes to the chapters of Disability Visibility, but I have chosen it because it explores a people, culture and religion that I have very little knowledge about. The chapter titled, “If you can’t fast, give” follows the perspective of the author Maysoon Zayid, a female comedian and actor (I had to look the author up on the internet to determine that she was a woman because she doesn’t give many indicators of her gender in the text.). She describes her experience growing up in a Muslim household, observing the feasts and sacred rituals of Islam as a disabled woman with cerebral palsy. Even though she was exempt from performing the fasting ritual due to her health, she often performed the ritual as a child, during Ramadan – a time to fast and forsake earthly pleasures. As she grew older, it became difficult for Zayid to perform fasting due to her health, and so she began to give to those less fortunate as an alternative fasting. Zayid encourages all Muslim’s who desire to observe Ramadan, but can’t do to their health, to not be ashamed, but to “channel their devotion to charity.”.

Quotations:
“Regardless of the heat, it’s fun to fast for Ramadan when you are in a country where the majority of the folks around you are starving.” – (Pg. 37)

“The Qur’an states clearly in Surah 2, Ayat 185 that those who have medical conditions are pardoned, so I was treated like a champ for fasting. […] I knew that fasting against the odds I had been born with, I’d totally get into heaven and, more important, would get amazing gifts for Eid.” (Pg. 36-37)

“I miss fasting, but I’m happy to take on my newest mission of reminding those who can’t’ fast that there is no reason to put themselves at risk. Muslims fast so they can suffer a little. It is important not to die in the process.” (Pg. 38)

Takeaways:

It’s a wee bit too short. I would have like to have known a little more about the author and her experience, but what she does talk about is enlightening and engaging. When it come’s to the Abrahamic traditions, I’m most familiar with Christianity and Judaism, and know comparatively little about Islam. I knew Ramadan was an important time in the Muslim calendar, but very little else, so to have that explained was very nice. I love the part about “receiving gifts at Eid”, Eid being the celebration that follows Ramadan. It shows that she is like any child – she is not completely selfless or anything; she likes the attention and gifts that come from the act of fasting. She talks about the difficulty of observing her religious rituals in America, and how we often think of these acts as evil, (It’s interesting to contrast it to the other Abrahamic traditions when they observe their fasting traditions, or to compare it to secular fasts for health or mental reasons. You may have your problems with Islam, but fasting as a religious observance shouldn’t be one of them.) In the end, she had to stop fasting because it negatively affected her health, but she was able to still find other ways to follow the tenants of her religion (after all, fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, (along with tithing, pilgrimage, prayer, and the declaration of faith.) It’s nice to read an essay on the positive aspects of Islam.

Falling/Burning

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Falling/Burning // Shoshana Kessock Summary:

The chapter I read was written by an author with bipolar disorder. They walk the reader through the complexities of the medical system as a creative with a mental disability. The chapter is an anecdotal narrative about their life, starting from a younger age, flying and falling and soaring and burning through the days. They share their experience with therapists, then psychiatrists, medication, then lack thereof. They sought out information about their disorder and were misinformed, under-informed, and poorly guided. The crux of the chapter is when the author explains their devastating ten year season from 2002-2012, which was ultimately “resolved” thanks to proper information and cautiously prescribed medicine.

A few quotes from the ten year period:

“Everything here is… hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch… this is hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that”

“That was the illness talking”

Summary of Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents // Keith Grant-Davie:

Keith Grant-Davie outlines what makes up a rhetorical situation in their essay, Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents. They begins by elaborating on the wholeness of a rhetorical situation, then breaks down that wholeness into exigence, rhetor, audience, and constraints. Exigence, as defined is, “an imperfection marked by urgency. It is a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be”. Exigence exists in a multiplicity. It begs to ask the questions: what is the discourse? Why does it exist? What should it accomplish? Rhetors are not as simple as one would think. Some may be unidentifiable and are complex and multifaceted by nature. Audience, similarly, to rhetors, could be anyone. Anyone that could potentially be the audience, is. The role of the audience is persuaded by the rhetor and discourse, but at the end of the day, it’s still a conversation and the audience is a prevalent part of the rhetorical situation. Constraints are, “persons, events, objects, and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence.” Constraints are preset circumstances/models that a rhetor and audience are held to.

“…where the aim is not victory over the opponent but a state of identification, where writer and reader are able to meet in the audience identity the writer has created within the discourse” 

In Reflection of both readings:

I found this chapter to be a accurate testimony to how mentally disabled folks navigate through life, in relation to creativity, medication, school, motivation, and frustration. It’s a tale so personal to this author, but true for many others. Through the scope of a “rhetorical situation”, the rhetors Shoshana Kessock, Alice Wong, and potentially others I am unaware of (are unspoken), are constrained by the length of a chapter, the english language, the obstacles of presenting a story as a disabled person, and the audience‘s knowledge regarding bipolar. I believe the audience extends much further than myself. The rhetorical choices made by the author lead me to believe that they hope struggling disabled authors to read their story. They persuade inspiration and hopefulness.

“Unbroken: Alice Sheppard’s Revelations in Dance”

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Title and Author: “So. Not. Broken” by Alice Sheppard, from Disability Visibility

Objective Summary: 

Alice Sheppard begins her short autobiographical piece “So. Not. Broken” from Disability Visibility by sharing a joke with her physical therapist as she arrives at an appointment. “I’m broken”, she says, but it has nothing to do with her disability (182). As a choreographer and dancer, Alice is used to living with a degree of physical brokenness, but not in the way her nondisabled audiences may immediately assume. “Many nondisabled people attribute a degree of brokenness to disability”, she writes, adding “it arises from the medicalization of our bodyminds” (182). For Alice, learning how to dance involved figuring out her body through the mechanics of her crutches, and her chair, as well as without them, leading her to new capabilities in performance. To Alice, the chair is a part of her body, because it becomes part of her embodied space, in dance and in daily life. She shares that her perspectives in dance were not just those of a disabled person; but also of a woman, and of a black woman; and she believes all of these intersections of identity impact embodied experiences in real ways. The “expressive capacity of bodies”, Alice writes, is surely enhanced by a variety of embodied forms, and she admits her new approach to the body as a whole gives her hope for a bright career future.

Quotations: 

  1. “My very first problem as a dancer was figuring out my chair. I had to learn how to move in it, of course, but I also had to understand what it meant as a black woman to use a chair onstage, in the studio, and in the world”. (page 183)
  1. “When I discovered the concept of embodiment—a word I use to describe the way in which my body takes shape and form—I made another breakthrough: My chair is my body.” (page 183)
  1. “My crutches and chair are not tools that compensate for my impairment. Nor are they simply devices that I use for traveling across the studio. I understand these starting points as embodiments, each of which has different movement possibilities.” (pages 183-184)

Takeaways and Reflection:

Clearly, Alice is speaking as someone with lived experience in multiple marginalized identities, and she centralizes the way those intersect in her life through her dance and stage performance career. The narrative does meander a little to fill in the details of her personal life, but one main claim she makes is that although brokenness and disability are affiliated through the medicalization of the American bodymind, this is both a harmful and inaccurate connotation which should be abandoned. It’s evident through Alice’s experience as a choreographer that mobility assistance devices are also a part of embodied selves, and can absolutely participate in the dance. In fact, she proposes that these devices can even expand the creative experience of dancers once integrated into routines. Alice’s narrative of her journey towards a greater self-understanding could be useful to many disabled and nondisabled in her audience, especially to those that might feel drawn towards athletic pursuits. At the end of the day, everyone must accept their body as it comes, because looking at the self as a lesser version of another person just seeds feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing.