Stella Young is a comedian and journalist who happens to go about her day in a wheelchair — a fact that doesn't, she'd like to make clear, automatically turn her into a noble inspiration to all humanity. In this very funny talk, Young breaks down society's habit of turning disabled people into "inspiration porn."Stella Young had osteogenesis imperfecta. Her biography is here.
Oh I would love to live near enough this woman to hang out. She's great! I completely completely agree with her and I actually think she didn't take it far enough - inspiration pron happens even outside the world of disability. As people sit and watch something like a tsunami or a fire on their screens, happening to someone else, a HUGE number of them mutter "My life could be worse" or "It makes me appreciate what I have". Same thing...objectifying someone else's struggle to prop up your own sense of well-being.
ReplyDeleteYup. That's basically the message of the documentary Enjoy Poverty.
DeleteStella passed away in December last year. Here's an obituary:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/08/stella-young-disability-activist-dies
Darn! That's sad...
Delete