On Writing Disability

[amarie24]

I asked this a few days ago at Ana's, but I could really use some help here. Thanks a lot!



Trigger Warning: Disability, Possible Erasure of Disability, & Ableism Language, Abuse etc.

I’m about to talk about the Batman mythos and I will do my absolute best to be as thorough as possible for anyone that’s not familiar with Batsy Boy’s universe.

Alas, I have fallen in love with the Batkids, better known outside the fandom as Batman’s sidekicks (i.e, all the Batgirls, Robins, etc.). And one of his sidekicks that I have fallen in love with is often called the Forgotten Batgirl. Her name is Cassandra Cain.

To share briefly about Cassie’s history, she was conceived, born, and raised only to be an assassin. Her abusive-ass father (David Cain, a BAMF villain assassin in the DC comics universe) raised/trained her to read people’s body language perfectly. In order to do this, he raised her without talking, reading, writing, etc. So Cassie knew (and still does) when someone was sleepy or going to throw a punch or going to drop kick, etc. She could read it with pinpoint accuracy and respond accordingly. Perfect assassin.

Then, she ran away from Daddy Dearest after her first killing at the age of eight. And she is mute and illiterate. Throughout her series, we see that she has terrible difficulty with learning to read, write, and talk, though she is capable of doing so. And because she is mute, I (and a lot of other Cassandra Cain fans) took her for disabled. Learning disabled, specifically.

But then I happened upon this blog that stated that Cassie is not disabled: she simply speaks another language-body language. You can read it here.

The blogger in question makes a compelling argument that Cassie simply knows and understands another language and that language is body language. I have no confusion with the blogger stating that Cass isn’t stupid: I am in complete agreement with that. Calling anyone stupid-especially if they’re (possibly?) disabled-is shitty as all fucking get out.

Yet at the same time…if we say that Cassie, who is mute and illiterate and has difficulty learning, is not disabled, then…neither is Barbara Gordon (the first Batgirl, and Cassie’s mentor/mother figure). Because Barbara Gordon was shot in the spine by the Joker and paralyzed. And now, she is permanently paralyzed from the waist down and is in a wheelchair. Yet, are we not supposed to say that she is disabled? Are we supposed to say that she simply has a different method of movements (via wheelchair)? Isn’t that disability erasure?

But…I want to write Cassie. I love that she’s Asian. I love that she has difficulties. I love that she’s Bruce Wayne’s (Batsy Boy’s) only (adopted) daughter. I love it. I already have about…three different fanfictions for her planned in my head. But I haven’t yet started writing or even drafting/outlining because I want to make absolutely certain that I am not erasing her disability and that I am checking my own able-bodied privilege.
My overall question is this: how do we distinguish between characters that…may have difficulties, but may not be disabled and characters that are absolutely disabled? How do we keep from erasing disability?

Comments

[silveradept]

Officially, my answer is "Ask them." Barbara-as-Oracle, for example, may not see herself as disabled simply because she's a chair-user, and Cassandra may not, either, despite her difficulties in communication in a form that we understand.

There's a lot of characerization and other things you can do with those differing perspectives - people who think of Barbara as disabled will change their behavior around her, possibly to their detriment or severe tongue-lashing from Barbara.

We can avoid erasing disability by treating it the way the characters want it to be treated. And by not making disabled characters into stereotypes that get Very Special Episodes.

[amarie24]

*nods* That's what I've read during my research, actually. That, in fact, most disabled people don't even think of themselves that way. It's not a...glaring, omniscient truth that they think about 24/7.

And, uhh...can you tell me what you mean by Very Special Episodes...?

[silveradept]

The Very Special Episode is when a show deviates strongly from its normal premise to highlight a social issue, cause, or other thing. So the sitcom about nominally wealthy kids getting into wacky hijinx suddenly focuses on the poor kid they've been making fun of, and the main crew Learns A Valuable Lesson about not making fun of the poor kid because he's poor (one they will likely never mention again, because the poor kid still "deserves" to be made fun of), then you have a Very Special Episode.

Cartoon All-Stars is my go-to on this, because it was all about the kid and his broher being Saved From Drugs, thanks to the combined power of many Saturday Morning Cartoon characters acting in their sudden anti-drug stance. And the kid telling his mother ab9ut his brother's drug paraphenalia.

[amarie24]

...Wow. A Very Special Episode sounds quite a bit like looking at a marginalized person's situation from the more-comfortable point of view of a privileged person. Not cool at all. @____@

[silveradept]

That's pretty much how many of them go, and then, having pals lip service to diversity, feel comfortable never mentioning it again.

[amarie24]

*sigh* ...Life lessons that are really just 30 minute lessons, huh? -_____-

[silveradept]

Yep. Because Status Quo is God. And because most writers for teens and sitcoms assume that viewers don't want difficult content.

[amarie24]

That...and they're scared that they may be tipping over the Status Quo. For example, take the new Annie movie (which I am SQUEALING to see!!) that features a black child. That tips over the Status Quo because, instead of a white child (who was Irish at the time, so her characterization spoke to , it is a black child and it speaks so much to conditions today, beyond and before.

It makes people extremely uncomfortable, yes. Of course. But I've always felt that we're supposed to have conversations especially when we're uncomfortable.

[silveradept]

Other people might disagree, and say that feeling uncomfortable is the time to shut up and let people who have experience talk. (Regrettably, the people who need to talk least usually are the ones who would never feel uncomfortable talking out their backsides.)

They've recast Annie as a black girl? That is a good idea, especially if it can make for some real discomfort about all the privilege on display.

[amarie24]

Talking out of their backsides...Silver, why don't YOU have a job as a political analyst/commentator? I mean, really.

And yes! Annie is a black child! I just put a new post up there to help spread the word! :D :D

[silveradept]

If I did, and they put me on camera or with a microphone, I'd have to have a unique and almost cute way of being censored when I inevitably started cursing. Relax-O-Vision, or the various flags and interjections associated with the Late Late Show (Craig Ferguson edition) or something. Because, inevitably, there would be cursing.

[amarie24]

Ehhh??? I didn't know you curse so much! Kewl! :O

[silveradept]

It's more like "politics brings out my worse language choices" because there are so many things that happen regularly that only an expletive will actually convey everything that needs to be conveyed.

[amarie24]

...You, my friend? Are not the only one. Alas, I cannot blame you at all. X_X

[mawgon]

Interesting question. I tend to write disabled people as people who are sometimes unhappy with their disability because that seems realistic to me. I'm only shortsighted, and it's uncomfortable and I wouldn't describe myself as "differently sighted" or some such nonsense.

If you can't do things people around you can do, you feel at a disadvantage. That's only natural. Even if you develop other abilities to make up for it, it's still not the same.

So, if Cassie has a supernatural ability of reading body-language, she might not feel disabled, but doesn't it still suck to not be able to communicate with most people?

I mean, I guess disabled people don't think of themselves as "disabled" but I do think most disabled people sometimes think "I'm not able to do thing X which everyone around me can do, and that sucks".

Of course that's a matter of perspective, the only non-mage in a world where everyone has magical abilities would be likely to feel bad about that, too, while shortsightedness can't really be counted as disability due to the large number of people who suffer from it.

[amarie24]

Hmmm...I think this quote can sum it up better: http://amarie-di-caprio.tumblr.com/post/77304951682/another-myth-that-is-firmly-upheld-is-that.