soultired: teaandtheatre: d-ogtooth: ...

teaandtheatre:

d-ogtooth:

teaandtheatre:

ataleforapenny:

teaandtheatre:

They also frequently speak over us.

could someone please explain this to me? i’ve never seen anything like this before and i really don’t know where i would look to research it myself… it’s certainly troubling .-.;

Explain what, exactly?

What ableism have you experienced? I’m sorry that it’s happened, no one should pull this shit, especially not feminists. It’s horseshit.

From feminists explicitly or in real life….?

Well, the vast majority of feminists (especially Tumblr’s Popular SJ Feminist circle) pretty much dismiss ableism entirely. They will make jokes (“ableism is so lame”, “God, know your privilege because not everyone can sign their name”, etc (yes, these are real examples)), and when someone confronts their ableist language or erasure of PWD, they will either ignore you, delete your ask, or straight up say that ableism isn’t real. On top of this, the ones who DO admit it’s real often ignore any sort of intersectionality — they claim that it’s not an “important” issue, or that it’s nothing more than being PC (to not use ableist language). Oftentimes, it’s as simple as “Please don’t use the r word, since PWD are constantly subject to being called as such”, only to be told that we need to stop being so PC and sensitive and suck it up because women have it worse than PWD (again, ignoring any and all intersectionality). Even more often is speaking above or for PWD instead of with them, often saying, “Well, if I was disabled, I wouldn’t be doing what you’re saying….” or “Well, my PWD cousin said THIS….”, etc. Furthermore, I’ve seen cases where my view is instantly dismissed BECAUSE of my disability(ies), such as, “Well, no offense, but because you’re autistic, you couldn’t POSSIBLY know what’s going on in terms of this social situation, so your view is invalid….” or “Well, just because YOU’RE Deaf doesn’t mean that any other Deaf person sees it that way!” etc. And it’s exhausting, because feminists often claim to be for equal rights for all, yet completely and utterly ignore any PWD while furthering the ableist attitude of society.

Man, I’m a feminist and I can kick in some ableist shit feminists pull, too.

Calling sexists/bigots r*tards*

Calling sexists/bigots crazy or saying that mental illness leads to prejudiced thinking and oppressive behavior*

Saying that the developmentally disabled can’t consent to sex

Saying that mentally ill people shouldn’t get into relationships

Saying that domestic abusive is the result of mental illness*

Ignoring that disabled people have an increased risk of being abused, particularly sexually abused and raped (and this ties into the whole can’t consent to sex thing, since some feminists seem to think any sex with a developmentally disabled person should be considered rape)

“We shouldn’t have to say that contraception is also medication to demand it be covered as health care.” Fuck all we shouldn’t, both are equally valid and denying that some women use the pill exclusively to deal with illness just erases how disability intersects with the debate

“Calling something bad crazy isn’t like calling it gay” (Paraphrasing an almost direct quote)

If a mentally ill person (particularly a man) ever does something bad to a woman, it’s pretty much always attributed to their illness*

Fatphobic ableism that doesn’t consider that some people are overweight, or don’t exercise, or don’t eat well, because of their disabilities (not that it’s ever okay to judge someone’s health or fatness, just another point of intersectionality)

Using mental illness/disability as a metaphor for what it’s like to be a woman

And this is just a tiny list of what I could come up with if I wanted to keep writing. Feminists, like everybody else, can be wildly ableist.

*These starred ones? They actually undo some of the feminist arguments, by alleviating some of the blame that should be put on the abuser and putting it on the disability, instead. But mental illness doesn’t make anyone abusive, being abusive fucking does.