I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much | Stella Young
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, raised in a small Victorian town, reflects on the misconception that disability makes individuals exceptional. She challenges the 'inspiration porn' phenomenon, where images of disabled people are used to inspire others, arguing that it objectifies and misrepresents the disabled community. Advocating for the social model of disability, she emphasizes that society's barriers, not physical conditions, disable people. The speaker calls for a world where disability is normalized and genuine achievements are valued, not the mere act of living.
Takeaways
- 🏠 The speaker grew up in a small town in Victoria, leading a normal and unremarkable life.
- 🏆 At 15, a community member wanted to nominate her for an achievement award, but her parents pointed out she hadn't achieved anything notable.
- 📚 During her teaching career, a student's comment made her realize that disabled people are often only seen as sources of inspiration, not as individuals with diverse roles.
- 🚫 She challenges the common notion that disability is a 'Bad Thing' and that living with a disability automatically makes one exceptional.
- 📱 She criticizes social media for perpetuating the idea that disability is something to be overcome through attitude, referring to such content as 'inspiration porn'.
- 👀 These images and messages objectify disabled people, using them to make non-disabled people feel grateful for their own situations.
- 🤝 The speaker prefers the social model of disability, which suggests that society, not physical conditions, is the main disabling factor.
- 💪 She emphasizes that disabled people overcome societal barriers, not their own bodies, and should not be reduced to inspirational figures.
- 🌟 The speaker desires a world where disability is the norm, not the exception, and where achievements are recognized without reference to disability.
- 🌍 She concludes by encouraging the audience to question their preconceptions about disability and to value genuine achievements of disabled individuals.
Q & A
What was the speaker's upbringing like in the small country town in Victoria?
-The speaker had a very normal, low-key upbringing. They went to school, hung out with friends, and fought with their younger sisters, which were all considered very typical activities.
Why did the speaker's parents initially decline the nomination for a community achievement award when she was 15?
-The speaker's parents declined the nomination because they believed there was a glaring problem: their daughter hadn't achieved anything significant at that point in her life.
What was the speaker's job during their after-school hours?
-The speaker worked in a low-key job at their mother's hairdressing salon.
What television shows did the speaker spend a lot of time watching?
-The speaker spent a lot of time watching 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Dawson's Creek'.
What realization did the speaker have during a year 11 legal studies class when a student asked about her 'speech'?
-The speaker realized that the student had only ever experienced disabled people as objects of inspiration, not as real individuals with their own roles and identities.
What is the term the speaker uses to describe images that objectify disabled people for the benefit of nondisabled people?
-The speaker uses the term 'inspiration porn' to describe such images.
According to the speaker, what is the purpose of 'inspiration porn' images?
-The purpose of these images is to inspire and motivate nondisabled people by making them feel that their own lives could be worse, thus putting their own worries into perspective.
What is the social model of disability, as mentioned by the speaker?
-The social model of disability suggests that people are more disabled by the society they live in than by their physical conditions or diagnoses.
Why does the speaker argue that the phrase 'The only disability in life is a bad attitude' is not true?
-The speaker argues that the phrase is not true because, according to the social model of disability, the issues faced by disabled people are often societal barriers rather than personal limitations, which cannot be overcome by attitude alone.
What does the speaker want to see in the world regarding the perception of disability?
-The speaker wants to live in a world where disability is not the exception but the norm, where disabled people are not congratulated for basic achievements and where their genuine accomplishments are valued.
What does the speaker suggest is the greatest injustice about the current perception of disability?
-The speaker suggests that the greatest injustice is the lie that disability makes one exceptional, which leads to low expectations and the objectification of disabled people.
Outlines
🙅♀️ Challenging the Inspirational Narrative of Disability
The speaker reflects on their unremarkable upbringing in a small town and the misconception that their disability should have qualified them for a community achievement award despite no extraordinary achievements. They recount an incident in a classroom where a student expected the teacher, who uses a wheelchair, to deliver a motivational speech, highlighting society's tendency to view disabled individuals as sources of inspiration rather than as real people with professional roles. The speaker critiques the notion that disability is inherently a bad thing and challenges the social media trend of 'inspiration porn,' which objectifies disabled people for the benefit of others, promoting a false narrative that disability makes one exceptional.
🚶♂️ The Social Model of Disability and Overcoming Prejudices
The speaker introduces the social model of disability, which posits that society's barriers, rather than physical conditions, disable people. They argue that disabled individuals are not overcoming their bodies but societal obstacles, and criticize the use of images of disabled people as a means to put one's own problems into perspective. The speaker emphasizes that being disabled does not make one exceptional and that this misconception is harmful. They share anecdotes of learning practical solutions from other disabled individuals and advocate for a world where disability is normalized, not exceptionalized, and where genuine achievements are valued without prejudice. The speaker concludes by encouraging the audience to question their preconceived notions about disability.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Disability
💡Achievement
💡Inspiration
💡Inclusion
💡Social Model of Disability
💡Objectification
💡Exceptionalism
💡Motivation
💡Stereotype
💡Empathy
💡Normalization
Highlights
The speaker grew up in a small country town in Victoria with a normal, low-key upbringing.
At age 15, the speaker was considered for a community achievement award, but their parents pointed out they hadn't achieved anything notable yet.
The speaker had a typical teenage life, including watching TV shows like 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Dawson's Creek'.
During a teaching experience, a student expected the speaker to give a motivational speech due to their disability, highlighting societal misconceptions about disabled individuals.
The speaker challenges the notion that disability is inherently a 'Bad Thing' and that living with a disability makes one exceptional.
Social media has propagated the false idea that a positive attitude is the only disability one needs to overcome.
The term 'inspiration porn' is introduced to describe images that objectify disabled people for the benefit of non-disabled people.
The speaker argues that the images of disabled people overcoming physical challenges are not what they truly overcome in life.
The social model of disability is explained, emphasizing that society's barriers, not physical conditions, disable people.
The speaker expresses fondness for their own body and its capabilities, urging a reevaluation of what is considered 'ordinary'.
The speaker questions the fairness of objectifying disabled people in images that are meant to inspire others.
Being called an 'inspiration' is a backhanded compliment based on the misconception that disability inherently makes one exceptional.
The speaker shares learning from other disabled people, such as using barbecue tongs to pick up dropped items, as examples of real-life adaptations.
The speaker advocates for a world where disability is not the exception but the norm, and where achievements are valued without the disability label.
The speaker envisions a society without low expectations for disabled people, where getting out of bed isn't considered an achievement.
The speaker concludes by emphasizing that questioning preconceived notions about disability is more impactful than the disability itself.
Transcripts
I grew up in a very small country town
in Victoria.
I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing.
I went to school, I hung out with my friends,
I fought with my younger sisters.
It was all very normal.
And when I was 15, a member of my local community
approached my parents
and wanted to nominate me
for a community achievement award.
And my parents said, "Hm, that's really nice,
but there's kind of one glaring problem with that.
She hasn't actually achieved anything." (Laughter)
And they were right, you know.
I went to school, I got good marks,
I had a very low-key after school job
in my mum's hairdressing salon,
and I spent a lot of time watching
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek."
Yeah, I know. What a contradiction.
But they were right, you know.
I wasn't doing anything that was out of the ordinary
at all.
I wasn't doing anything that could be considered an achievement
if you took disability out of the equation.
Years later, I was on my second teaching round
in a Melbourne high school,
and I was about 20 minutes into a year 11 legal studies class
when this boy put up his hand and said,
"Hey miss, when are you going to start doing your speech?"
And I said, "What speech?"
You know, I'd been talking them
about defamation law for a good 20 minutes.
And he said, "You know, like,
your motivational speaking.
You know, when people in wheelchairs come to school,
they usually say, like, inspirational stuff?"
(Laughter)
"It's usually in the big hall."
And that's when it dawned on me:
This kid had only ever experienced disabled people
as objects of inspiration.
We are not, to this kid --
and it's not his fault, I mean,
that's true for many of us.
For lots of us, disabled people are not our teachers
or our doctors or our manicurists.
We're not real people. We are there to inspire.
And in fact, I am sitting on this stage
looking like I do in this wheelchair,
and you are probably kind of expecting me
to inspire you. Right? (Laughter)
Yeah.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid
I'm going to disappoint you dramatically.
I am not here to inspire you.
I am here to tell you that we have been lied to
about disability.
Yeah, we've been sold the lie
that disability is a Bad Thing, capital B, capital T.
It's a bad thing, and to live with a disability
makes you exceptional.
It's not a bad thing, and it doesn't
make you exceptional.
And in the past few years, we've been able
to propagate this lie even further
via social media.
You may have seen images like this one:
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."
Or this one: "Your excuse is invalid." Indeed.
Or this one: "Before you quit, try!"
These are just a couple of examples,
but there are a lot of these images out there.
You know, you might have seen the one,
the little girl with no hands
drawing a picture with a pencil held in her mouth.
You might have seen a child running
on carbon fiber prosthetic legs.
And these images,
there are lots of them out there,
they are what we call inspiration porn.
(Laughter)
And I use the term porn deliberately,
because they objectify one group of people
for the benefit of another group of people.
So in this case, we're objectifying disabled people
for the benefit of nondisabled people.
The purpose of these images
is to inspire you, to motivate you,
so that we can look at them
and think, "Well, however bad my life is,
it could be worse.
I could be that person."
But what if you are that person?
I've lost count of the number of times that I've
been approached by strangers
wanting to tell me that they think I'm brave
or inspirational,
and this was long before my work
had any kind of public profile.
They were just kind of congratulating me
for managing to get up in the morning
and remember my own name. (Laughter)
And it is objectifying.
These images, those images
objectify disabled people
for the benefit of nondisabled people.
They are there so that you can look at them
and think that things aren't so bad for you,
to put your worries into perspective.
And life as a disabled person
is actually somewhat difficult.
We do overcome some things.
But the things that we're overcoming
are not the things that you think they are.
They are not things to do with our bodies.
I use the term "disabled people" quite deliberately,
because I subscribe to what's called the social model of disability,
which tells us that we are more disabled
by the society that we live in
than by our bodies and our diagnoses.
So I have lived in this body a long time.
I'm quite fond of it.
It does the things that I need it to do,
and I've learned to use it to the best of its capacity
just as you have,
and that's the thing about those kids in those pictures as well.
They're not doing anything out of the ordinary.
They are just using their bodies
to the best of their capacity.
So is it really fair to objectify them
in the way that we do,
to share those images?
People, when they say, "You're an inspiration,"
they mean it as a compliment.
And I know why it happens.
It's because of the lie, it's because we've been sold
this lie that disability makes you exceptional.
And it honestly doesn't.
And I know what you're thinking.
You know, I'm up here bagging out inspiration,
and you're thinking, "Jeez, Stella,
aren't you inspired sometimes by some things?"
And the thing is, I am.
I learn from other disabled people all the time.
I'm learning not that I am luckier than them, though.
I am learning that it's a genius idea
to use a pair of barbecue tongs
to pick up things that you dropped. (Laughter)
I'm learning that nifty trick where you can charge
your mobile phone battery from your chair battery.
Genius.
We are learning from each others' strength and endurance,
not against our bodies and our diagnoses,
but against a world that exceptionalizes
and objectifies us.
I really think that this lie that we've been sold
about disability is the greatest injustice.
It makes life hard for us.
And that quote, "The only disability in life
is a bad attitude,"
the reason that that's bullshit
is because it's just not true,
because of the social model of disability.
No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs
has ever made it turn into a ramp.
Never. (Laughter) (Applause)
Smiling at a television screen
isn't going to make closed captions appear
for people who are deaf.
No amount of standing in the middle of a bookshop
and radiating a positive attitude
is going to turn all those books into braille.
It's just not going to happen.
I really want to live in a world
where disability is not the exception, but the norm.
I want to live in a world where a 15-year-old girl
sitting in her bedroom
watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
isn't referred to as achieving anything
because she's doing it sitting down.
I want to live in a world
where we don't have such low expectations
of disabled people
that we are congratulated for getting out of bed
and remembering our own names in the morning.
I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement
for disabled people,
and I want to live in a world
where a kid in year 11 in a Melbourne high school
is not one bit surprised
that his new teacher is a wheelchair user.
Disability doesn't make you exceptional,
but questioning what you think you know about it does.
Thank you.
(Applause)
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