Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 21, 2021 at 5:46:14 AM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Disability]: Hansen on Taussig, 'Sitting Pretty: > The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Rebekah Taussig. Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient > Disabled Body. New York HarperOne, 2020. xiii + 237 pp. $25.99 > (cloth), ISBN 978-0-06-293679-0. > > Reviewed by Nancy Hansen (University of Manitoba) > Published on H-Disability (February, 2021) > Commissioned by Iain C. Hutchison > > When I was approached to write this review, I initially thought that > _Sitting Pretty _would be yet another "tragic," "brave," > "overcoming," or "heroic" disability tome. However, I was happily and > importantly mistaken. This autoethnography is a refreshing, realistic > counternarrative to majority understanding of life from a seated > position. To provide context, the author had an established social > media presence @sittingpretty before writing the book. A wheelchair > user and educator, Rebekah Taussig is letting the reader in on a > personal knowledge journey that is by no means maudlin, harsh, or > sentimental. Full of thoughtful insight and humor, the book presents > a straightforward conversation beginning with disabled people's > cultural invisibility and representation. > > An American living in the midwestern United States, Taussig, the > youngest of six children, acquired disability from early childhood. > She talks about creativity in a nonconformist body that, particularly > in one's early years, is not different or strange, good or bad: it is > simply your body. Taussig discusses the necessity for chronic > creative approaches when the disability and impairment is not > expected, or planned for, in the majority culture. Moving through > adolescence, she carefully traces her gradual acclamation of the > broader social trope of the "burdensome" or "problematic" disabled > body indicative of endemic ableism/disableism. She views current > definitions of able-bodied and ableism as overly simplified. We have > to move away from the all or nothing binaries and out of > long-established cultural comfort zones. Taussig explores the seeming > naturalness of disability deprivation, exemplified by poverty and > unemployment. > > Taussig poignantly discusses assumptions of asexuality and intimacy, > and the overarching cultural discomfort with disability and > sexuality. She relates how the subject is dismissed and/or ignored > while simultaneously caught up in ideas of bodily perfection, > invisibility voyeurism, and freakery. She underscores the narrow > configuration of the "acceptable" body and the copious amounts of > physical and psychological energy required to make others feel > comfortable with those who fall outside the "lines." The author's > discussion of the medical and social models of disability illustrates > the need for a serious philosophical shift in the understanding of > disability beyond one-dimensional understandings of "weakness," > "defect," "incapacity," or "cure." An interesting exploration of the > impact of the systemic perception of disability demonstrates that the > process is not straightforward. > > What is meant by social citizenship is analyzed by way of perceived > role expectation, position, utility, and lack of presence. The > cultural narrative of disability is rarely developed by disabled > people's experience. Disability is often "understood" in terms of > loss, functionality, worth, cost, and premium, particularly in the > midst of a profit-driven medical system when decisions are made in > all aspects of life. Benefits and supports that are often tied to > income level dictate employment decisions or lack of them. Social > marginality is maintained and reinforced. > > Taussig presents an interesting discussion of the illusion of > inclusion and the taken-for-granted aspects of the body, physicality, > and disability accommodation beyond ramps and accessible toilets. > There is a need to move beyond these simplistic understandings. > Examining concepts of speed, space, and time provides the basis for a > far more nuanced understanding of disability and society. Similarly, > the author highlights the need for the "sisterhood of feminism" to > truly engage with disability issues in a substantive manner. > Furthermore, there is a detailed analysis of unexpected, uncontrolled > encounters with strangers and their concepts of kindness toward > disabled people, what it demonstrates and reflect. > > The author advocates moving beyond a best-intentions and > better-than-nothing approach to access and inclusion. Taussig > provides a useful list of resources and individual contacts for > further information and research. _Sitting Pretty: The View from My > Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body _is a modern approach illustrating > the impact of ableism in the daily lives of disabled people. This is > a much-needed resource. > > Citation: Nancy Hansen. Review of Taussig, Rebekah, _Sitting Pretty: > The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body_. H-Disability, > H-Net Reviews. February, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56114 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#6579): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/6579 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/80801642/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
