I've been working on a new book the last month or so. There's a chapter below this entry.
My buddy Abdul recommended I look into disability theory for more ideas. It was a very good idea indeed! Disability Studies Quarterly is a good place to start. The knowledge and scholarship within is very important, but how do we go from theory and study to action? For me, it's writing. Also, I'm rethinking the whole "overcome" narrative all too often associated with people diving with so-called disabilities AKA physical limitations. Perhaps that works for someone recently paralyzed after a life of no physical limitations. They have a lot to re-learn. I was born the way I am. I don't consider myself broken or damaged in some way. I live independently with my wife, work hard, and enjoy a beer every now and then like other dudes and blokes. It pisses me off when some well intending asshole says something like "...Can't doctors do anything for you?" or "Maybe you should contact so and so medical school or so and so hospital." Thanks but... no thanks. I'm fine. Sorry I don't conform to your narrow, and ill conceived definition of "normal." Get over it. We all suffer. We all face barriers of one form or another. We all age. If we live long enough, we all face more limitations.Life is anything but normal. So what's the big deal?
In our western narrative, we value individualism above all else. There's individual freedom, autonomy, independence and so on and so on. It sounds great until we take a closer look by examining actual lived experiences. We all rely on others. I don't know about you, but I'd be shit outta luck without a well stocked grocery store, power company or hospital. There are those brave souls that run away to live in the wilderness, but none go utterly alone. Being alone with no other human contact, leads to madness. I think inter-dependent is closer to the truth. But that does not fit the story of "The Self-Made Man" or woman. So much of consumerism is a drive to normalcy. Normal, like porn, is something we all just "know" when we see it. We all really have a different definition based on our makeup, and lived experiences. Me?? Using a dress stick is normal. It is a part of how I roll. Others, it's putting on a coat and tie everyday. Our culture assumes we are all the same, shinny happy middle class straight white people.Those not "in" are "out." No one wants to be "out." Better buy some shit, and the right shit to be "in."
More soon.
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