This is actually the first time anyone's called me a cripple, and given that it's coming from a woman who seems to go out of her way to be actively hostile to me/maradydd, it was hard not to take offense. I foolishly thought that a polite note saying that she was being offensive would maybe get her to realize that not everyone who is disabled thinks of themselves as "a [noun meaning disabled person]." The "a cripple who is a law student" comment would piss me the hell off if it were applied to me. I'm a PhD candidate, I'm a top-tier software architect, I'm a biochemist, I'm an author, etc. "Cripple" doesn't enter my list of nouns to describe myself, so having someone else (disabled or not) apply that to me, and then act like I'm out of line for pointing out that it offends me, makes me stabby. You don't mind it; that's cool. She self-applies it; that's cool. Applying it to me isn't, especially after I have said that I find it offensive. I would be damn surprised, though, if Person A called Person B a "nigger" and then expected the "You think that's offensive? Well, I'm Black and I call myself that all the time and so do my other black friends, so it's your problem if you're offended" argument to fly, to run with that analogy. But sadly, that's typical of a certain type of SFBA attitude toward personal responsibility. (I don't know if you had to deal with this sort of person down in SoCal, but you've been in Philly long enough to see where *I* come from.)
You were a law student before you got sick, and you're still a law student first in my book.
(Note there's at least three other people who are good friends of maradydd's or mine who have varying degrees of disabilities reading this too, so I'm speaking up on behalf of anyone else who was offended but doesn't want to rock the boat. It may not be apparent, but I always ask maradydd if I can smack a bitch before doing so on her LJ. I'm just glad this is over text; anyone calls me a cripple to my face I'm going to have to fight the impulse to brain them with my cane; I don't give a shit if they think we've got some common "reclaiming of terms" bullshit going on and are "cripples" themselves. Fuck that.
But, all that aside, I'm glad you weren't offended, since I don't like to see my friends offended.
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Date: 2009-07-24 10:21 pm (UTC)I would be damn surprised, though, if Person A called Person B a "nigger" and then expected the "You think that's offensive? Well, I'm Black and I call myself that all the time and so do my other black friends, so it's your problem if you're offended" argument to fly, to run with that analogy. But sadly, that's typical of a certain type of SFBA attitude toward personal responsibility. (I don't know if you had to deal with this sort of person down in SoCal, but you've been in Philly long enough to see where *I* come from.)
You were a law student before you got sick, and you're still a law student first in my book.
(Note there's at least three other people who are good friends of
But, all that aside, I'm glad you weren't offended, since I don't like to see my friends offended.