Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body

“Most of what I saw of life felt powerfully, intrinsically inaccessible to me—how was I supposed to enter those spaces, let alone contribute in them? […] Not only did I discover I wasn’t the princess, but I was an uninvited intruder, a problem to push out of sight.”

Life’s “spaces” include work, an area that Taussig felt excluded from because she did not see herself as someone who could have a job—largely due to a lack of representation of similar people. As a child, she fantasized about marrying a prince but then realized her life was different from those without disabilities—to the point of giving up this fantasy. This illustrates how ableism makes people with disabilities feel like they don’t belong in the world, which reinforces the theme of Combating Ableism. Ableism creates not just inaccessible spaces but also inaccessibility to a self-fulfilling life.

“If we live long enough, all of us, without exception, will become disabled. This is a prerequisite to having, living in, being a body.”

This view of disability challenges the mainstream view of it being the opposite of ability. Instead, it shows how disability is on a spectrum and will impact everyone as they age. Aging is usually viewed as its own identifier, one that comes with changes like cognitive and physical decline. However, these are impairments on the spectrum of disability. Older individuals make up about half of the population of people with disabilities but are often excluded from the mainstream view of disability because their impairments are viewed as part of aging.

“Ableism affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or not. Because the disabled body is most powerfully affected by ableism, it is the first to cast a light on the structure, to resist and protest it, to call for its public execution, but we’re all living under its dictates. Ableism punishes all of us.”

This quote reflects the book’s overall argument that Disability Impacts Everyone. Because disability is a spectrum—and ableism opposes disability—ableism is a system that also impacts everyone. Ableism reinforces an ideal body that is “perfect” in beauty and age, not just ability, and this “punishes” everyone who does not fit the ideal.

“The worth of a body is measured by its capacity for work and/or the longevity of life it’s able to sustain. Bodies are products; scars, breaks, and changes in function make that product less valuable.”

Taussig uses metaphor—framing the body as a product—to point out how American society views bodies as vehicles valued for work. She extends the metaphor by noting that damaged products are less valuable, like how damaged bodies are considered less valuable—this mentality being what excludes people with disabilities from all areas of society. America’s emphasis on work disconnects body from person, objectifying it. This economic view of humans emphasizes productivity and wealth—reinforcing how Disability Impacts Everyone.

“Getting married isn’t for disabled girls (or queer girls, or fat girls, or older girls, and unless you’re JLo, it would seem it’s not for girls of color, either).”

By framing queer, overweight, and other marginalized girls as excluded from marriage in media representation, Taussig draws a connection between them and people with disabilities when it comes to discrimination. This frames Disability as an Identity similar to other identities, as well as how a societal ideal exists that prescribes who is allowed to be “normal” and have a relationship.

“This was our space, our story, our love.”

Through her second marriage to Micah, one based on personal preferences rather than societal expectations, Taussig demonstrates how people with disabilities can create their own stories that reflect their own needs. To her, anyone and everyone can build their ideal relationship, providing a valuable perspective that can inspire and push others to fulfill their own wants.

“A group is marginalized because society marginalizes them. Society also has the power to change that.”

Taussig initially confronts society with passive voice, the first sentence mentioning a general “group” with “society” trailing behind. However, the second sentence starts with “society” and places responsibility on it, on systemic change. Taussig hopes her book will help spur this change.

“I’d been fully convinced that I was about to teach these kids some of the most exciting, valuable, universally relevant, revolutionary ideas they’d ever come across. I could see a new future just over the horizon, and we were going to build it together with education, collaboration, imagination, and care.”

This quote captures Taussig’s idealism regarding her graduate studies and sharing them with younger students. However, they exhibited resistance due to how ingrained ableism is. The book incorporates knowledge she gained from teaching, with the students serving as a microcosm of society’s resistance to Disability as an Identity.

“One of the other English teachers I work with says that teachers’ fists are full of seeds, and we spend our days throwing them across the concrete pavement, never knowing when or where one of those seeds will take root or what plant might start pushing its way through the cracks.”

This metaphor illustrates how, even when faced with resistance to an idea, one should continue to discuss ideas like disability with others. Though people might not show immediate understanding, they might slowly understand. This is why media representation of disability and inclusion is important: The more disabilities are normalized, the more they will be truly understood.

“Disabled people have been assigned a clear part in the stage performance. We are the recipients of help, in need of assistance, holding out a tin can for charity, here to inspire. Attempting to claim another role, a more complicated part, like the one who accepts and offers a bit of help, one who uses a chair to navigate the world and has sex, one who can’t walk and isn’t asking for your money—even if it’s a role that feels natural and fitting—can surprise, confuse, or even irritate the other people in the performance.”

By comparing people with disabilities to secondary characters in a performance, who only play an assigned role, Taussig shows how society views them as one-dimensional rather than complex. This role creates a false binary between people with and without disabilities. Society created this role, not people with disabilities themselves, who struggle to regain power over their identities. The book aims to illustrate the complexity of people with disabilities, showing how their lives are different than what society believes or wants them to be.

“I didn’t see a single disabled body at that table. What a stark reminder that even those most dedicated to inclusion rarely imagine disabled people into the scene.”

Taussig refers to the final scene in Mindy Kaling’s film Late Night and how its diversity fails to incorporate people with disabilities. People don’t often think about discrimination that doesn’t directly affect them, this being the case with racism, sexism, and anti-gay bias. Even when considering identities other than their own, people don’t often consider disability. This was the case for Taussig’s student Adam, who cared about women because they were an active part of his life but not people with disabilities because they existed outside of his life. Taussig aims to rectify this tendency by showing how Disability Impacts Everyone.

“The undeniable fact is that we all have bodies that make messes, fluctuate in size, cramp and bloat, rebel and disobey, break and heal, break again and heal all wonky, hurt and age, speak to us, work for us, get tired, grieve, and rejoice—but mainstream narratives tell us that our bodies aren’t that complex. They exist in extremes […] Our actual experiences exist in the thousands of spaces between.”

This quote reinforces how Disability Impacts Everyone as a spectrum. Everyone experiences physical problems at some point, and Taussig illustrates how this commonality unites people and can help them better understand disability. This understanding leads to more inclusion.

“There’s a contradiction between saying that a workplace is inclusive even as it participates in the larger cultural values that celebrate everything a disabled body is not. There’s something unsettling about offering accommodations for an ‘exceptional’ body when the entire system surrounding that body is built on the assumption that more and faster and harder and higher is fundamentally, inherently superior.”

This quote highlights the limitations of making small changes in the workplace when larger society is focused on an ideal body. It speaks to the structural change needed to include people with disabilities, first by deconstructing what the ideal body is. This parallels the structural changes needed to combat racism, sexism, and the like.

“We’re rewarded when we fit tidily into the parameters set before us, so we pretend, mask, and go along with it as best we can. Those who simply cannot fit are highlighted as outsiders who need something extra to make it work. Instead of looking at the larger, varied collection of humans on a team and creating a structure that accounts for their real experiences, needs, desires, and motivations, so often work systems prefer to dispense the smallest portions of flexibility to the ones who simply cannot fake it any longer.”

The exclusion that people with disabilities feel at work is part of societal exclusion. Taussig’s emphasis on the spectrum of disability and needs shows that Disability Impacts Everyone because everyone needs flexibility in some way. Some people try to fit in by avoiding asking for help and masking.

“I’m having a hard time trying to pinpoint this intersection between Disabled and Woman. I find myself worrying that these questions will be received as an attempt to quiet or poke holes in or take away from the powerful collection of women’s stories already gathered.”

Taussig’s identity as a woman with a disability shows how people with multiple identities can struggle to understand themselves, let alone navigate the world. She feels she does not belong to the group “women” and that inclusion of women with disabilities in feminism will somehow detract from its focus.

“‘But disability? I mean feminism is already concerned with so many intersectionalities,’ I counter. I picture all the signs at the Women’s March—signs with slogans representing every political identity and social issue—and try to imagine feminism attempting to squeeze in one more identity, one more set of concerns, one more hashtag onto the protest signs.”

Expanding on Important Quote #16, Taussig sees feminism as excluding disability, a view that counters intersectional feminism—which aims to include multiple voices without removing power from any one group. Thus, this quote is an example of internalized ableism by Taussig: She does not see herself as belonging in feminism because she does not see herself as belonging in the world. One way to address this discomfort is by Combating Ableism.

“Not only do I feel motivated to raise my hand, but it’s easier to see why our inclusion is important. As I picture all of us together, I see it: disability that represents only people like me is missing the point, and feminism that considers only nondisabled bodies is a shortsighted feminism that eventually runs out for every woman claiming its protection. We need each other.”

Like Taussig’s intersection of disability and feminism, marginalized groups would find greater success by working together against systems of oppression—including ableism. Society creates norms that include whiteness, cisgender identity, heterosexuality, maleness, and ability—and including Disability as an Identity can help fight these norms.

“The most consistent, most universal, most shared experience in having a body is that they all change, and if you live long enough, they all start to slow, forget, fracture, ignore orders, and revolt. When we pretend disability is not part of womanhood—when we keep the two separate and distinct—we’re all left less equipped, less adaptable for the inevitable challenges of life.”

Taussig underscores how Disability Impacts Everyone because everyone has a body. Disability is something experienced by all people at some point. Thus, the universality of having a body means disability is an identity that all women have lived experience with and so should be included in the concept of womanhood.

“As a culture, Americans are pretty well convinced that disability is something they’ve figured out. In fact, this was a puzzle solved years ago. How could ableism exist when we’ve memorized the rules? Don’t say the R-word; don’t make fun; disability doesn’t define anyone; just try to be helpful; and the rule that guides them all: Be kind.”

The idea that America has “figured out” disability ignores the real experiences of people with disabilities. None of Taussig’s echoed rules examine these experiences due to America framing itself as a post-racial society. However, Taussig knows small changes are not enough to enact systemic change.

“This is the power of the one-dimensional, deeply embedded, ableist script in our culture. Some bodies are Victims, others are Heroes. Some bodies need help, other bodies give help.”

Society views people with disabilities in a one-dimensional way, as only needing help. Again, this dichotomy of needing and giving help is false. While offering help often comes from a good place, it can come off as condescending.

“We dismantle ableism and create inclusion when we flip the script—when we demonstrate that disability is a blurry, shifting category that prompts more care and flexibility and access for every human body.”

By proving Disability Impacts Everyone throughout the book, Taussig shows that everyone deserves more “care and flexibility and access” in their daily lives, work, and health care. Ableism impacts everyone due to these universalities—thus, including people with disabilities makes society more inclusive for everyone.

“The message I hear the most is […] ‘We’re just not thinking about you at all’—a sentiment that intends no harm even as it dismisses an entire population.”

Taussig does not face blatant discrimination from others, but their exclusion of issues related to people with disabilities remains harmful. By excluding marginalized groups from consideration, society creates inequities that are invisible to those outside of these groups. Combating Ableism will help address this problem by creating more visibility and thus more inclusion.

“The vast majority of nondisabled people don’t see—and certainly don’t feel—the experience of disabled folks. There are others who recognize the textures of inaccessibility—fat and queer folks, so many aging bodies, people of color and those encountering language barriers, anyone who knows poverty—all have an extra set of fears, costs, and concerns.”

People who lack the lived experiences of identities outside of societal ideals and norms often fail to understand these experiences. By contrast, people with differences outside of societal ideals and norms often do understand other marginalized people because they share similar issues. Marginalized identities elicit “fears” and “concerns” that those in the majority do not face.