In 1851, Sojourner Truth, a black abolitionist and former slave, delivered a speech at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. In her speech, she talked about the way women of color were not treated the way everyone seemed to be claiming women should be treated, and about the right to equality between women and men. (for anyone interested, you can read her short speech here – http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.html)
That is true, too, of women with disabilities. Without any further ado, my version of ‘Ain’t I a woman?’
They say that women should have the right to reproductive choice. But the same people tell me not to have children, and call me reckless, hateful, stupid, foolish, and mean because I might pass along my disgustingly flawed genetics, and even if I don’t, I’ll force a child to live with my so-terrible disability. They say I should not have the choice to reproduce. But ain’t I a woman?
They say that women are the equal of men in the workplace, and they have passed legislation that guarantees them equal pay for equal work. But they discriminate against me in hiring, and they cannot pass laws that guarantee me equal pay. My people work for a fraction of minimum wage through disability centers. Ain’t I a woman?
They say a woman has the right to the sanctity of her body. But when my people are sent to residential centers and they have severe disabilities, their caretakers are sometimes encouraged to have them rendered infertile so that when they are raped, at least they will not become pregnant. Aren’t we women?
They say a woman has the right to an education, the same right as a man, but when I sit there in my classes, they sneer at me and fight to avoid making it possible for me to take them. Ain’t I a woman?
They say a woman can choose who she has relationships with, and whether she has them at all. But the media and society say that no one would choose to love a grotesque figure like me. Ain’t I a woman?
They claim that we who are disabled have equality – laws that guard our employment, that call for accessibility, that regulate the way businesses and the government can treat us. And yet, the majority of my people live under the poverty line. We live in the streets. We can get neither work nor government assistance. We have no value, we are told, because we do not put out work. We should rely on the benevolent paternalism of charity instead of having the hard earned dollars of working people syphoned into programs that keep us in poverty but give us enough to keep from dying.
You may say that I am a burden. You may tell me that no one values me. You may patiently explain that I have no friends, no beloved, because I am not worthy of them. You may tell me that you will not hire me because my disability makes me less capable than the next person. You may tell me that I deserve to be in poverty and to not have money to do things that make me happy.
But there is where you are wrong. Why begrudge me my value as a human being? Why deny me the same achievements, the same desires, the same needs as you have? Why slash my value because of a disability that does not affect my ability to dream, to love, to be a human being?
We are one in five of the people around you. We slowly gain political clout, employment, and recognition. All we want is to be treated as human beings with the same value as you have, and one day we will achieve it. Better you stand with us, or out of the way if you cannot bear that, than that you stand against us. We will remember.
This is beautifullly written and straight from the heart. We still live in a society that finds a way to discriminate. It takes alot to stand up to that.
I applaude you! You wrote this so beautifully! I feel like crying. for so many reasons. For the injustice done onto you, for not being able to just hug you and try and make you feel better, for not being able to beat up anyone that makes you feel like you are not a woman. Always remeber that you are, and you are definitely a mpore beautiful woman than those who tell you you are not.
I do not think you should be treated as a human being however. Humans are the scum of the earth. I hate to be one of them, even though I know that we are not all bad. Have you ever heard of Julliviers Tale? Where the horses are supirior to men? I believe that. Humans think they are great. They can talk, write, read. THey can use computers and comunicate with people on the other side of the world. So What? acknowledging that makes you not so great. Everything we are doing at this very minute, so called animals did first. We are mearly copy cats, taking over the world and limiting our opposition. I hate what happens in society and the blindess that people now have. Isn’t it a shame how we can now let people who are blind see, yet we can’t open people’s eyes to what is right infront of them?
I do not think you should be treated as a human being. You should be treated as a being. But you should be treated as greater than a human, for your mind proves that you are. Just think about it. However your disability hinders you, it gives you a greater mind to mass ratio! It makes you smarter than the rest of us. and most of us, well our ratios get smaller anyways by driving and being able to buy as much fod as we want and so on. (too complicated to explain in a comment- or one paragraph cause I write a lot even in a comment- as you can see). ANd realising that you are being hindered by society, that makes you greater still.
Congrats. I send you Love and Strength with which to combat the brutes and closed minds of everyday life and society.
Love,
Mirella (www.mireallrose.wordpress.com not much of intrest up yet)
Thank you for your support.
There were a couple things you said that I wanted to touch on.
First – I do not want to be thought of as greater than the rest of humanity. I am the same as them. I always have been.
Second – I’ve mentioned in the past that I think language is important. In your comment, you referred to a societal refusal to think of things in a certain way as ‘blindness’. Here’s the thing – blindness is a disability relating to physical sight. To use blindness as a metaphor for foolishness or refusal to consider something is tatamount to saying that to be blind is to be foolish, to refuse to consider something. It is important that we not use language in an ableist way. When we use ableist language like this, we re-inforce the idea that to have a disability is to be less.
~Kali
It really is ‘Ain’t I a person?’ when it comes to disability. And yet most people remain blissfully unaware.
Isn’t it sad that most people are so unaware of how blithely they, as part of society, attempt to make us less than people?
Well put! You deserve the same opportunity to succeed or fail on your merit as everyone else. Your merit should not be defined by your disability, but should be based on your abilities as a student, as an employee, as a friend, as a lover–in short, as a human being.
Things will change. One who chooses to stand against us can’t stop that.
A friend of mine has EDS and I have never come across anyone else with it. I’ll have to direct him to your blog! Who knows, maybe he already reads it!
I agree that this is beautifully written. Things must change. Thank you for your voice.
Disability bigotry + Gender bigotry = double whammy of stupidity.
As disabled females we get the double whammy of the belief that we’re not capable of the same things as males dumped with the notions that the disabled are less than human. You hit the nails right on the head and then danced upon them. Thank you.
Thank you for this. A clarion call, a rant edged with sadness and oh, how it rings true.
Why thank you, Lene. I’m flattered to hear you like it – I’ve enjoyed your writing, when I remember to go look. Found you via Dave, no big surprise there, eh?