Examined Life - Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor 720p.avi

Summary

The transcript features a discussion about the intersection of disability, access, and social norms. It explores how walking, often considered an able-bodied activity, is supported by external factors like accessible environments, particularly in cities like San Francisco. The conversation touches on personal experiences of navigating public spaces as a disabled individual and critiques societal expectations. It also addresses broader themes of interdependence, disability as a political issue, and the impact of non-normative bodily movements on social inclusion, gender, and identity.

Takeaways

• 🚶‍♂️ People with disabilities often still refer to their movement as 'walking,' even if it involves different methods, reinforcing their participation in everyday activities.
• 🏙️ San Francisco's accessibility infrastructure allows more disabled people to navigate public spaces, which enhances social acceptance and normalizes their presence.
• 🤝 The concept of 'help' is universal, highlighting that everyone, disabled or not, depends on others at various points in life, challenging society’s emphasis on independence.
• 🌳 Disability is seen both as a physical condition (impairment) and as a social construct, where societal barriers and exclusions define much of the 'disability' experience.
• 💡 Discovering the social model of disability shifted the speaker’s view, showing that much of the struggle comes from society's failure to accommodate, rather than the physical condition itself.
• 🧠 The discussion reflects how movements like gender and disability activism challenge traditional notions of what bodies 'should' do, expanding the idea of bodily freedom.
• ⚠️ Social responses to bodily differences, such as violent reactions to non-conforming gender expression, show how deeply ingrained societal norms can become threats to safety.
• 👟 Walking styles or physical movements, which might differ from the norm, can invoke reactions that highlight the fear or discomfort society has toward non-standard embodiments.
• 🧬 Bodies that don't align with societal standards are sometimes dehumanized, which can manifest as both verbal and physical abuse, showing the harsh reality of exclusion.
• 🤲 The act of asking for help, such as assistance with a coffee cup, can be a political and social statement, questioning whether we live in a world that embraces mutual support and interdependence.

Q & A

What does the speaker mean by 'taking a walk'?

The speaker uses 'taking a walk' not just as a physical act but also as a metaphor for navigating spaces as a disabled person. The speaker reflects on the accessibility of environments and the importance of public spaces being designed to accommodate all people.

Why did the speaker move to San Francisco?

The speaker moved to San Francisco because of its physical accessibility, including public transportation and curb cuts, which make it easier for disabled people to navigate the city. This physical accessibility also creates a more socially inclusive environment for disabled individuals.

How does physical access lead to social access, according to the speaker?

The speaker explains that physical access in a city, like accessible transportation and buildings, leads to social access because more disabled people are present in public spaces. This increased presence normalizes interactions with disabled individuals and fosters social acceptance.

What does the speaker mean by 'the normalizing standards of our movements'?

The speaker refers to societal expectations of how bodies should move and function. When disabled people move or perform tasks in ways that deviate from these norms, it can cause discomfort for others because it challenges standard assumptions about bodily abilities.

How does the speaker describe the difference between impairment and disability?

The speaker distinguishes between impairment, which refers to the physical or medical condition of their body (e.g., arthrogryposis), and disability, which refers to the social and systemic barriers that limit opportunities and isolate disabled people.

How does the speaker view the need for assistance in daily life?

The speaker views the need for assistance, such as asking for help with simple tasks like ordering coffee, as a political statement. They emphasize that everyone is interdependent and that society should be more accepting of the need for help rather than stigmatizing it.

How does the concept of gender intersect with disability in the discussion?

The speaker notes that both gender and disability challenge traditional notions of what bodies can and should do. Both movements encourage rethinking bodily norms and rejecting rigid standards of physical appearance, movement, and capabilities.

What point does the speaker make with the story of the person attacked for their walk?

The speaker highlights how societal norms around physical movement, such as walking, can lead to violence when someone deviates from those norms. In the story, a person with a 'distinct swish' in their walk was killed, underscoring the dangers of nonconformity to gender and bodily expectations.

How does the speaker reflect on the term 'human' in relation to disability?

The speaker questions the boundaries of what is considered 'human,' especially in relation to disabled bodies and those that do not conform to societal norms. They suggest that disabled people often remind others of aging, death, and physical decline, which challenges narrow definitions of humanity.

What broader social challenge does the speaker pose through their reflections on interdependency?

The speaker challenges the individualism prevalent in society by advocating for a world where interdependency is recognized and embraced. They argue that basic needs, such as assistance with daily tasks, should be seen as a social responsibility rather than an individual burden.

Outlines

00:00

🚶‍♂️ Reflecting on the Meaning of Taking a Walk

This paragraph begins with a personal reflection on the simple act of taking a walk, particularly focusing on what it means for the speaker and disabled individuals. The speaker emphasizes that they walk daily, despite using the term 'walk' differently from most able-bodied people. They discuss how accessibility, particularly in cities like San Francisco, enables them to walk more freely due to accessible public transportation and curb cuts. The speaker also notes how physical access leads to social acceptance, as more disabled people are visible, changing how society interacts with them.

05:02

🏠 Disability as a Social Issue

The second paragraph explores the difference between impairment and disability. The speaker reflects on their personal embodiment, specifically their experience with arthrogryposis, a condition affecting their joints and muscles. They highlight the social repression of disabled individuals, noting limited career opportunities, housing options, and cultural aversion. This discussion includes a personal anecdote of trying to build up the courage to perform daily activities like ordering coffee, which for them becomes a political act of asserting the need for help and acknowledging the interdependence of all people.

10:02

🛒 The Act of Asking for Help

In this segment, the speaker humorously recounts a shopping experience where they are helped in putting on a sweater and completing a purchase. The light-hearted exchange touches on broader themes of gender and disability, as the speaker discusses how both movements challenge conventional ideas of what bodies can do. They reference philosopher Gilles Deleuze's essay 'What Can a Body Do?' to illustrate how bodies should not be evaluated based on an ideal form but rather on their capacities and actions. The speaker advocates for moving beyond traditional understandings of bodies in both gender and disability contexts.

🕺 A Walk as a Political Act

This paragraph explores the societal implications of how people move, using an example of a young man who was killed because of his non-normative gait. The speaker reflects on their own experience of being criticized for walking 'like a monkey' as a child, which leads to a broader discussion on how bodies that don't conform to societal standards are often dehumanized. The conversation touches on evolutionary biology and societal discomfort with bodies that fall outside the norm, raising questions about who gets to be considered fully human in the eyes of society.

🤝 Interdependence and Social Assistance

The final paragraph shifts to a reflection on interdependency and how asking for help in simple tasks like getting coffee is a challenge to societal individualism. The speaker argues that by asking for assistance, they are posing a question to society: do we live in a world where we help each other with basic needs? This becomes a political statement, advocating for a world where we recognize our interdependence and build social and political systems that support collective care and mutual aid.

Keywords

💡Walk

In the video, 'walk' is a central metaphor that explores both literal and figurative movement. It refers to the speaker's daily physical routine and serves as a broader symbol of how individuals navigate social spaces. The term is especially significant when considering the challenges disabled people face, as the speaker mentions the importance of accessible environments that allow for social mobility.

💡Disability

'Disability' refers to both the physical limitations of the speaker's body and the societal barriers that disable individuals face. The video contrasts the medical understanding of disability with the social model, which highlights how physical impairments become disabling due to social structures that fail to accommodate diverse bodies.

💡Social Model of Disability

The 'social model of disability' is a framework discussed in the video, which differentiates between impairment and disability. Impairment refers to physical conditions, while disability is the result of societal barriers that limit access and inclusion. The speaker uses this model to illustrate how physical environments and social attitudes disable individuals rather than their impairments alone.

💡Accessibility

Accessibility is discussed in both physical and social terms. In the video, San Francisco is highlighted as a place with high physical accessibility—curb cuts, accessible buildings, and public transport—that allows the speaker more freedom of movement. Socially, accessibility refers to the broader acceptance and inclusion of disabled people in everyday life.

💡Interdependence

Interdependence is a key theme in the discussion of disability, emphasizing the idea that all people, regardless of ability, rely on one another for support. The speaker challenges the notion of radical self-sufficiency, using examples like asking for help in a coffee shop to demonstrate how mutual aid should be normalized.

💡Embodiment

'Embodiment' refers to the speaker's personal experience of their body, shaped by the condition arthrogryposis. The speaker contrasts this personal, physical reality with the social implications of being disabled. Embodiment is explored through the ways bodies are seen and treated in society, especially when they do not conform to norms.

💡Normalization

'Normalization' refers to societal expectations about how bodies should move or function. The speaker discusses how their use of certain body parts in unconventional ways, like picking up a cup with their mouth, challenges these norms and makes others uncomfortable. This discomfort reveals how deeply ingrained certain standards of movement and ability are.

💡Independence

Independence is questioned in the context of disability, where the speaker critiques society's emphasis on self-sufficiency. The speaker suggests that independence is a myth, particularly for disabled individuals, and argues for a model of society that recognizes and values interdependence instead.

💡Body Politics

Body politics refers to how societal power dynamics shape the perception and treatment of different bodies. In the video, this concept is connected to both disability and gender, as the speaker discusses how physical differences (in movement, for example) can provoke negative reactions, even violence, revealing the social control exerted over bodies that deviate from the norm.

💡Cultural Aversion

Cultural aversion refers to the societal discomfort or fear surrounding disabled bodies. The speaker notes how disabled individuals face exclusion or isolation because their presence reminds others of aging, illness, and mortality. This aversion perpetuates social barriers and marginalizes disabled people.

Highlights

Walking for disabled people is a regular activity, though the word 'walk' is often redefined to suit personal abilities.

San Francisco is cited as one of the most accessible cities for disabled people due to its infrastructure like curb cuts and accessible public transportation.

Physical accessibility in public spaces leads to social accessibility, normalizing the presence of disabled people in everyday life.

There’s a false belief that able-bodied individuals are radically self-sufficient, overlooking the aids and techniques everyone uses to move through the world.

The social model of disability differentiates between 'impairment' (physical condition) and 'disability' (social repression of disabled people).

Disabled people face restricted housing options, career opportunities, and social isolation due to societal structures, rather than just their physical impairments.

For disabled individuals, everyday tasks like ordering coffee can become acts of protest to challenge the stigma around asking for help.

The societal norm to reject or downplay interdependence fuels the stigma against those who need help, although interdependence is essential for everyone.

Movements in non-normative ways, such as using body parts differently, can cause discomfort in others and provoke social reactions.

Judith Butler’s philosophical question, 'What can a body do?' challenges conventional ideas of the body, focusing on its capabilities and not its ideal form.

Nonconforming gender expression, like a distinct way of walking, can provoke violence, as seen in the tragic story of a boy attacked for his feminine gait.

For disabled people, being reminded of their bodies’ differences, including aging and mortality, often leads to societal rejection.

The boundary between human and nonhuman is questioned in how people are treated based on physical abilities, gender expression, or societal norms.

Rethinking humanity through interdependency suggests that humans rely on collective support, not just individualism, to meet basic needs.

Asking for help in public spaces challenges societal individualism, urging people to acknowledge mutual dependence in addressing everyday needs.

Transcripts

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[Music]

I thought we should take this walk

together and

um one of the things I wanted to talk

about was what it means for us to take a

walk

together when I first asked you about

this um you told me youd take walks take

strolls I do

and can you say something about um what

that is for you when do you do it and

how do you do it and what words do you

have for it well I think that I I always

go for a walk probably every day I go

for a walk um and I always tell people

that I'm going for a walks I use that

word and most of the disabled people who

I know use that term also

which environments make it possible for

you to take a walk I moved to San

Francisco largely because it's the most

accessible place in the world and part

of what's so amazing to me about it is

that the the physical access the fact

that the public transportation is

accessible there's curb Cuts most places

almost most places I'll go there's curb

Cuts buildings are accessible and what

this does is that it also leads to a

social acceptability that some now

because because there's physical access

there's simply more disabled people out

and about in the world and so people

have learned how to interact with them

and are are used to them in a certain

way and so the physical access actually

leads to

um a a social access and acceptance it

must be nice not to always have to be

the Pioneer the very first one

they first disable person they've ever

seen

I do you know speak and think and talk

and move and enjoy life and suffer many

of the same heartaches that you do and

anyway um but what I'm wondering about

is um moving in Social space right

moving all the movements you can do and

which help you live and which express

you in various ways um are do you feel

free to to uh move in all the ways you

want to move I could go into a coffee

shop and actually pick up the cup with

my mouth and carry it to my table but

then

that that becomes almost more difficult

because of

the just the normalizing standards of

our movements yes and the discomfort

that that causes when I do things with

body parts that aren't

necessarily what we assume that they're

for that seems to be even more um

hard for people to to deal

with is that somebody's shoe someone's

shoe I wonder if they can walk without

it

yeah I'm just thinking that nobody takes

a walk without there being a technique

of walking yeah uh nobody goes for a

walk without there being something that

supports that walk um outside of

ourselves um and that maybe we have a a

false idea um that the able-bodied

person is somehow radically

self-sufficient

yeah it wasn't until I was in my early

20s about 20 and 21 that

I became aware of disability as a

political issue um and that happened

largely through discovering the social

model of disability which is

basically uh in disability studies they

have a distinction between visibility

and impairment yeah so impairment would

be my my body my embodiment right now

the fact that I was born with

arthrogryposis which affects or what

what the medical world has labeled as

arthrogryposis um but basically that my

joints are are are are fused my muscles

are weaker I can't move in certain ways

and this does affect my life in all

sorts of um uh situations for instance

you know there's a plum tree in my

backyard and I can't pick the plums off

the plum tree I have to wait for them to

drop or whatever um but then and so

there's that there's that embodiment um

our own unique embodiment and then

there's disability which is basically

the

the social repression of of disabled

people the fact that disabled people

have limited housing options we don't

have career opportunities um we're

socially isolated we're um you know in

many ways there's a cultural aversion to

disabled people so would disability be

the social organization of impairment

the disabling effects basically of

society what happened where did you come

in contact with disability activists or

did you read certain things I I read I

read a book review actually oh really

yeah I just read a book review and and

when that happened I lived in Brooklyn

and I would I would really try to make

myself go out and just order a coffee by

myself and I would sit for hours

beforehand in the park just trying to

get up the nerve to do that in a way

it's a political protest for me to go in

and order a coffee and demand help

simply because in my opinion help is

something that we all need and it's

something that is is you know looked

down upon and not really taken care of

in this society when we all when we all

need help and we're all interdependent

in all sorts of

ways should we stop and get me something

warm I don't know that's pretty F find

something yeah I think it would probably

fall off my shoulders

although I guess we could try it

on okay so basically that's the back

yeah so that would

be

yeah

[Music]

okay other arm other

[Music]

arm and I like it it's stylish it's very

stylish okay it's kind of you know

sporty and fancy it's going to be a new

show shopping with

Jud for the queer

[Music]

eye maybe I can just get it while

wearing

it hi hi we put the sweater on yeah so

I'm buing this one that I'm wearing um

so it's by weight oh it's by weight yeah

I could probably just do it for four

bucks that sounds good here you

the the Bills first and then

the oh oh I just I just meant to yeah I

just can't hold both at the same

time there you go thanks thanks so

much I think gender and and disability

converge in a whole lot of different

ways yeah but one thing I think both

movements do is get us to

rethink um what the body can do there's

an essay by the philosopher Jil Deliz

called what can a body

do um and the question is supposed to

challenge um the traditional ways in

which we think about bodies right we

usually ask you know what is a body or

what is the ideal form of a body or you

know what's the difference between the

body and the soul and that kind of thing

yeah uh but what can a body do do is

um is is a different question it's it it

isolates a set of capacities and a set

of instrumentalities or actions and we

are kind of assemblages of those

things um and I like this idea it's it's

not like there's an Essence and it's not

like there's an an ideal

morphology you know what a body should

look like it's exactly not that question

yeah yeah or what a body should move

like

um and one of the things that I found in

thinking about gender and even violence

against um sexual minorities or gender

minorities people whose gender

presentation doesn't conform with

standard ideals of femininity or

masculinity is that very often

um it comes down to uh you know how

people walk how they use their hips what

they do with their body parts um what

they use their mouth for what they use

their anus for or what they allow their

anus to be used

for there's a guy in Maine who I guess

he was around 18 years old and uh he

walked with a very um distinct swish you

know hips going one way or another and

very feminine walk but one day he was

walking to school and he was attacked by

three of his classmates and he was

thrown over a bridge and he was

killed and um the question that

Community had to deal with and indeed

the entire media that covered this event

was you know how could it be that

somebody's gate that somebody's style of

walking could engender the desire to

kill that

person and that you know that makes me

think about the walk in a different way

I mean a walk could be a dangerous

thing I'm just remembering when I was

little when I did walk I would be told

that I walked like a monkey oh and I

think that for a lot of you know

disabled people the violence and the and

the the the sort of the the

hatred exists a lot

in in this um

reminding of people that our bodies

are going to age and are um going to die

and you know in some ways I wonder also

just you know just thinking about the

monkey Comet if it is also a level

of um and this is just a thought off the

top of my head right now but just

um the

the sort

of where where our boundaries lie as as

a human and what becomes nonhuman you

know well it makes me wonder whether the

person was anti- evolutionary you know

maybe they a creationist it's like well

why shouldn't we have some resemblance

to the monkey I mean well the monkey's

actually always been my favorite animal

too say actually quite a lot of the time

I was flattered exactly yeah but that

that when when when in those in between

moments of you know in between male and

and female or in between um uh death and

and health when when do you still C

count as a

human my sense is that what's at stake

here is really rethinking the human as a

sight of interdependency MH and I think

you know when you walk into the coffee

shop right I can go back to that moment

for and and you you ask for the coffee

or you indeed even ask for some

assistance with the coffee um you're

basically posing the question do we or

do we not live in a world in which we

assist each other yeah do we or do we

not help each other with with with basic

needs and our basic needs there to be

decided on as a social issue and not

just my my

personal individual issue or your

personal individual issue so I mean

there's a challenge to individualism

that happens at the moment in which you

asked for some assistance with the

coffee cup yeah and hopefully people

will take it up and say yes I too live

in that world in which I understand that

we need each other in order to address

our basic needs you know and and I want

to organize a social political world on

the basis of that recognition

[Music]