I is for identifiers like person with disabilities, disabled person, crip, and ambulatory wheelchair user. These are all terms that people with disabilities use to describe themselves. How someone describes themselves is not necessarily how you should describe them. Identity is complicated, especially for historically excluded populations. Sometimes, what we call ourselves is a defense mechanism or internalized ableism, another I word for today.
Internalized ableism is when a person with disabilities is discriminatory toward themselves or others with disabilities. The world tells us a lot of bad things about ourselves, and we are often a product of our environment. If you spent the majority of your life being called a burden, you’d probably have trouble getting over that, wouldn’t you? Internalized ableism can also look like “I can do this thing as a person with disabilities, so why can’t this other person just do the same as I did? Why do they get special treatment?” or “I shouldn’t even apply for that job, I don’t think XXXX company would make reasonable accommodations for me.” For more on internalized ableism, check out this article from The Mighty.
I is for intersectionality. Intersectionality is a term that was first used by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at Columbia and UCLA Law school, to describe the intersection of race and sex. Crenshaw argued in her paper “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex” three separate legal cases focused on single issue analysis rather than recognize that being a Black woman means that you experience the discrimination of being Black and being a woman. Intersectionality today also encompasses disability, sexual orientation, religion, and more. As a white disabled woman, I have the privileges of being white met with ignorance of disability challenges and being a woman in the workplace. I am not just white. I am not just disabled. I am not just a woman. All of these things compound and complicate our existence, and the more historically excluded identifiers you belong to, the more likely you are to be discriminated against. For more on Kimberlé Crenshaw and intersectionality, check out this article from Vox.
I is also for Identity Related Aggressions, which go hand-in-hand with intersectionality. I recently finished a book called Did That Just Happen?! Beyond “Diversity” — Creating Sustainable and Inclusive Organizations. This book had a MOUNTAIN of great information. I particularly enjoyed the chapters about identity related aggressions and how to respond to them. Identity related aggressions are when you are discriminated against or otherwise “othered” in a situation through words, actions, or nonverbal cues. This can look like a lot of different things: Tokenization, the hiring (and firing) of Black women to “fix” organizations, expecting a person who has been the landing space for identity related aggressions to also “fix” the problem by offering solutions to make them whole again, and expecting a trans coworker to speak for the entire trans community as an individual. As a person with disabilities, I face a lot of identity related aggressions especially when I am raising issues about accessibility. To read Did That Just Happen?! Check out your favorite independent bookseller or try the audiobook through Libro.FM
I is also for:
**Invisible disabilities. There is no one “look” of disability. Some of us use wheelchairs one day and can walk unassisted on a good day.*
*Intent and impact. You may think that you’re doing a good deed by giving a push to someone in a wheelchair who looks stuck but by not asking, you could harm that person or infantilize them. Ask before giving help. Think about impact before you barrel ahead with your good intentions. How might your help be perceived?
**Inspiration porn. Oof. This is a rough one. Please don’t tell us we’re inspiring just by getting out there. I’m not inspiring for the things I’ve had to overcome just to get to where I am. Similarly “overcoming” disability and doing things “in spite” of your disability is also a form of internalized ableism AND an identity related aggression. Here is an article from Forbes on How to Avoid “Inspiration Porn”.
I is an intense letter, isn’t it?