Okay, then, I've come to some decisions:

[capri0mni]

One: That since my first participation in Blogging Against Disablism Day fell on a Friday, I will use Fridays as my day of the week to continue the discussion. And since this is Friday (though it may well be Saturday before I've finished this entry), I'll start tonight.

Two: The consensus seems to be that Sundays are slow around here, so I'll use that day to make new pretties (or share those I find). This will also prompt me to have something for glarmaco, at least until I'm art-wise burned out, come September.

Third: I'll leave any further decisions until later. ;-)

And Finally, Fourth: This decision will also be the topic of my Friday Issue post -- whether to use the term "Ableism" or "Disableism."

I've decided to go with "Ableism." And here's why:

While I agree, up to a certain point, with the Social Model of Disability, I agree only up to that point.

Even within the walls my own, custom-built home, where I've engineered out most of the barriers Society puts in my path on the Outside, there are rare moments when I lose my balance getting out of bed in the morning, and therefore spend the next several hours getting back into my wheelchair, and getting on with my day.

So to say that it's all based on what Society does to me, kinda, sorta, innaway, feels like it's ignoring my experience of my life from the inside. Now, I suppose it could be argued that I've just internalized Society's biases against "People Like Me," which is, in itself, a kind of barrier that Society has put up. And I don't know, I might just make that argument myself, next week. ::Shrug::

So I'm going to stop arguing against "Disablism" and start arguing for "Ableism." According to the etymology written up in the definition at allwords.com: ableism, it was patterened after "Racism." So, let's look at the definition of "Racism":

noun 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
(Dictionary.com, based on The Random House Dictionary, (c) 2009)

If we substitute "ability" for "race" we get:

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among various human abilities determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own abilities are superior and gives the right to rule others.


2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.


3. hatred or intolerance of [those with] different ability or abilities.

Okay, except for the "Cultural" componant there (as there is no unified culture based solely on an individual's abilities), it's quite easy to superimpose "Ableism" over "Racism."

And, furthermore, unlike "Disabilitism," it doesn't look like it necessarily has to apply only to those who live with various types of impairment, even though that's how it's used today. I mean, an ablist might also favor the abilities of an athlete over that of a poet or math geek, or favor a the caculating abilities of a math geek over the abilities of a painter or sculpter. And, from that discrimination, an ablist could put policies and systems in place to favor one and disfavor the other (such as schools who will fully fund the football team, but cut out all the arts and music classes, just for an example).

For another explanation of the "Social Model of Disability," without all the sociologists' jargon, here's an online editorial from January '07 that quotes a print editorial from 1985: I did NOT say "physically challenged" (the editorial mentions "The Ashley Case," which was also a topic of at least one BADD entry, this year, btw).

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Anyway, I just thought I'd share the language decision I made this week.

Notice: all decisions are open to change without apology.

[Edit: the editorial link has been fixed...]

Comments

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Your last link doesn't go where it's supposed to, woe.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Oh, ack! I right-click copied the url as I was reading the page, but I posted just before midnight, so maybe a deadline passed that moved it from "recent articles" to "Archives".

Try this: http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/blogs/edgecentric/media/003033.html (http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/blogs/edgecentric/media/003033.html)

(If in the future, dear reader, you are dropped at the search feature, type "Physically Challenged" (with quotes) in the search box.)