iamthecrime:

jerriann:shiningstar:

My sister, Rachel, is currently in Boston and I just received this text from her:

“Please experience this. Blind mom with her baby and dog waiting for the train. Hero.”

Forget everything great you think you’ve ever done because this lady is better than all of us.

Sorry, but once I saw this post I immediately thought of this:

[photo: black and white image of a bearded, white, tattoo’d, bespectacled person wearing a black tshirt, overalls and cap, sitting in a motorized mobility scooter, clasping their hands together while smiling big, with their forearm crutches sticking up behind them; text reads: “Know what i’m tired of? Images of disabled people doing random things, turned into “inspiration porn”. These images (e.g. children joyfully running with their prosthetic legs, someone painting with their toes, an elder skiing, etc), are then emblazoned with text like “what’s your excuse?”, “your excuse is invalid”, “if ___ can do it, why can’t you?” and other gems. They call on non-disabled people to buck up and stop making excuses for not doing something, and guilt other disabled folks into feeling like crap for not being able to pull themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps & “just do it”. These images & sentiments are an ableist tool. They exceptionalize disabled people based in ablesist notions of accomplishment & worth. They build on & reenforce able bodied pitydom of gimps. Just fucking stop it ok? We’re just doing our thing, yknow? We are not a goddamn guilt-trip tool to get you to do stuff. Please, if you need to use gimps as a tool to get you to do stuff, yer using the wrong starting point. (*for example, in this photo, i am simply enjoying a moment with a friend… I AM NOT YOUR INSPIRATION!)”]

Did they ask for permission to take her photo and make her “hero of the day” on the internet? She’s not a fucking side-show, she’s just going about her day, blind or not.

^ Thank you, all of that. Nothing to add.