Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Disturbing Bodies.

This is my body:


Is it disturbing to you? Do you need a trigger warning before you look at it? Are you disturbed by the mere sight of me? Does that sound reasonable to you? Maybe it does. If it doesn’t, well, what about other bodies? Are those disturbing to you? Either way, if you think any disabled body, any body is so disturbing that it requires a trigger warning before folks even see it for 5 seconds, i have something to tell you.

Straight up? You’re wrong. There is nothing disturbing about my body. Not about my fat, my hairy ass, my doubly hairy big tits (which i chose not to show on here), any of my scars, the crutches i use to prop all that hotness up. None of it. And there’s nothing disturbing about the body of a man who has had a face transplant either. i didn’t require the warning i was given by telecasters tonight on the news, simply at seeing his face.

But that man did deserve respect, he deserved basic respect, and he deserved the space to just fucking exist. His face isn’t disturbing to me. Ableism is disturbing to me; ignorance is disturbing to me because it takes many dangerous forms and impacts real people’s lives in incredibly profound ways.

A trigger warning? Seriously? Think about that a minute. There are so many different kinds of bodies in this world, and i’m sorry, but can you just think for even one second what a fucking unbearable ordeal that dude has been through? A surgery that went on for a day and a half that completely replaced his face. That’s no small shit right there. And you want to prepare me? Perspective, people. Perspective.

Let me say it clearly: Disabled bodies are not disturbing. Ableism is. Please, check it at every opportunity.