[ SECRET POST #3420 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3420 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Banana Fish]


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 051 secrets from Secret Submission Post #489.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i.imgur.com/32s04QL.png

[feotakahari]

This might be a stupid question, but do you interact IRL with anyone who has a disability?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, I do. My friend's brother is severely disabled, you can't communicate with him at all and all he does is lie at his table and... do this twitching, moaning thing. It creeps the hell out of me, but I don't let him nor her know it - I know it'd be a horrible thing to do.

[kallanda_lee]

But...disabled people are not "malfunctioning machines".

Do you feel like this in real life, too? I feel like it would be weird to feel that way about actual people you know.

My grandmother went blind, and essentially it's the same person, you know, some things just become harder for them.

You don't have to write anything you don't want, of course, I just find the reasons strange. Also if you do; you don't have to write someone who's completely incapacitated.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I answered this question above! And yeah, I understand it's weird and smth I shouldn't be feeling, that's why I feel so guilty over it. :(

[(Anonymous)]

Well, on the one hand, you should write what you want to write, OP. But on the other hand, you seem to have a strangely hyperbolic aversion to even the idea of physical handicaps. Like feotakahari, I'm also curious... do you actually know any disabled people? I suspect if you did, and got to know them as people, you'd see that your sense of revulsion is misplaced.

[(Anonymous)]

I write a disabled character that I've gotten very positive feedback about in fanfic. The key to writing them is not to think of them as disabled. They're fully formed people just like everyone else. The only difference is how they handle their disability, and often how they physically get around since many disabilities in writing are physical in nature.

I know it sounds strange, but I don't look at the character as if there's something wrong with him. He acknowledges his condition and refuses to let it slow him down in life.

What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing to be scared of, OP. It sounds like you write your diversified characters with respect, and I'm sure that would continue with disabled characters.

[(Anonymous)]

I think this is key to writing any sort of character with a trait the author isn't familiar with. How do you write good POC characters? By remembering they're people, just like you. A disabled person isn't solely characterized by their disability, just like a POC isn't solely characterized by the color of their skin. You wouldn't write an able-bodied white character with only one personality trait and expect people to think it was a well written, well rounded character, so do the same for all your characters. Make them real people.

[dinogrrl]

^This. I have several characters across a few fics of mine who have varying types and degrees of physical disabilities, mental handicaps, and psychological disorders, both ones they were born with and ones acquired as a result of circumstances. It's been fascinating and sobering to see how these progress, how the characters themselves and those around them react, and how to write from the point of view of some of my more severely disabled characters. As of yet, I haven't had any negative comments about any of those characters, and actually have gotten good feedback about them.

The key, as with anything, is to do your research, treat the character respectfully as a whole person, and be open to critique if someone comes to you with concerns.

[eleganceliberty]

Agreed on that first point.

I have a wheelchair-bound character in one of my original comic projects, and his disability has absolutely no bearing on the plot or his character arc whatsoever. But I had at least two acquaintances I know told me it was ridiculous (for lack of a better description) to have a wheelchair-bound character in a futuristic sci-fi based story. And I'm sure they won't be the last people to point that out... :/ But I strongly believe in seeing this character and his arc through (of which it plays no major part of), so I'm sticking with my guns on this one.

But yeah, treating them like characters first and foremost is an important part. If you focus too much on the disability, however well meaning you might be, it runs the risk of being borderline tokenism. There's a clear difference between a fully fleshed out character, who just so happens to have a disability, and a blatant attempt to score diversity points that solely focuses on that one aspect of the character and neglects everything else.

[belladonna_took]

This is the second "disabled people make me uncomfortable" secret in a short space of time on FS.

Seeing as both secrets featured wheelchair users I'm now wondering how many people are quietly not okay with me talking about my personal life here.

The idea that people are machines is interesting though, and a fairly common way of seeing the human body right now. Every advertisement you see for fitness and health seems to imply that you get out of your body what you're willing to spend on it, that you can fuel yourself to health and shape and control the way you look and feel by expending more energy.

Good health is a combination of both a healthy lifestyle and luck (I guess you might call it?). Some people never get the chance to experience both, but the point is that nobody can be lucky forever. We do not ultimately control our bodies. We can buy all the super smoothie makers and personal training sessions we want, but they're not making us immortal.

Also, if you refuse to acknowledge that someone with a disability can be as fulfilled and inherently valuable to this world as any other person can be, then you won't really be contributing any real representation. You'll be writing a token disabled person so that your followers will be super impressed by your commitment to diversity.

I can only speak for myself, but that's not the kind of representation I want.
You also get this gif of Aaron because if this is what "malfunctioning machines" can do, then I hope I can malfunction like this some day. Don't bother feeling guilty. Guilt isn't productive. You'll either make the effort to challenge your own perceptions or you won't. That's on you.

[(Anonymous)]

Also, if you refuse to acknowledge that someone with a disability can be as fulfilled and inherently valuable to this world as any other person can be, then you won't really be contributing any real representation. You'll be writing a token disabled person so that your followers will be super impressed by your commitment to diversity.

This.

[bio_obscura]

So very well-said.

[ketita]

This is a good comment.

[(Anonymous)]

I dunno, OP. I don't think you should write a disabled character out of any sense of obligation (I know you said in your secret that you write varied characters because you like diversity, but it kinda sounds like you need to fill a diversity quota by writing a disabled character) and if you have such a visceral reaction to disabled people, it might come out in your writing. Disability covers a wide range though. I knew a girl with cerebral palsy who had a slight limp and you couldn't really tell unless she was walking fast. My cousin has autism and most people are surprised to learn he has it because he doesn't fit the stereotype of a person with autism. I worked with an autistic girl who was nonverbal and avoided eye contact, but she loved getting and receiving hugs. Now I work with a girl who has Rett syndrome and you can't tell she has it by looking at her. She's nonverbal, but when a song she likes comes on the radio, she'll sing it by mimicking the sounds and will dance to the beat. I think when you write characters who are disabled, you have to write them as people first so they're defined by their personality and not their disability.

[(Anonymous)]

Given what you said above, it sounds like therapy might do you some good - that sort of visceral reaction to the thought of any and all disability isn't normal, and unpacking it might help you function better day-to-day. Who you write about isn't really that important, but being able to interact with disabled people without thinking of them as malfunctioning and lesser is.

[(Anonymous)]

This is a little extreme, maybe. OP lacks perspective. Their isolated negative experience with one severely disabled person has thrown them off, and to correct it all they need to do is take a deep breath, step back from the situation and realize that their one experience isn't representative of how all disabled people are, everywhere. If OP is reasonably intelligent, that's something they can do on their own.

[tabaqui]

So, write what you're comfortable with and don't push it. I've a dear friend, Vietnam vet, paraplegic. He's nobody's poster boy, in some ways, and in other ways he is. But i know for a fact he has no interest in being a check mark on a list.

If your reaction to disability (and it seems you've only really been exposed to something very, very severe) is total aversion, you can either try and work your way through it by volunteering or something and exposing yourself to more disabled people (and getting over the aversion, most likely), or you can just write what you write, and stop worrying about what other people think.

You are not *obligated* to write, or feel, any particular way. And so long as you're not unloading it onto people it will hurt, well...that's life.

[(Anonymous)]

The idea of being physically disabled myself makes me feel...claustrophobic, kind of? I've always been fit and very slim, and because I deal with mental heath issues, having a comfortable and easy relationship with my body is something I value immensely. But when I read fanfic I tend to relate very closely to the characters, so I avoid any fanfic that involves the characters becoming permanently physically disabled.

So I feel like I kind of understand where you're coming from, OP.

But OTOH, I'm fine with physically disabled characters as long as they're physically disabled from the start.

[(Anonymous)]

Your feelings are understandable based on your personal experience. However, as others have said in this thread, there are many "invisible" disabilities. Being disabled doesn't have to be dramatic. I mean, the only outward sign of my disability (traumatic brain injury) is the cane I use due to balance and depth perception issues.

I have all my speech faculties. Physically, I just have a handful of limitations. As you can see here, I type fine. Disability doesn't have to be scary. There is a very wide range. Kind of like on a car, a flat tire =/= absolutely totaled (to make a bad analogy).

[likeadeuce]

It sounds like reading some perspectives about disabilities might be helpful. Perhaps reading some memoirs or blogs by people who have lived with disabilities or chronic illnesses would be helpful to you both as a writer and as somebody trying to come to terms with this experience.

[(Anonymous)]

You, specifically, are not obligated to include disabled people in your work. That's just silly.

Further, readers mostly won't even notice they're not there, and the ones that do probably won't take it out on you personally. Because, honestly, media is not always going to have a token disabled person.

[(Anonymous)]

Chances are you're already writing characters with disabilities. Ever written someone who wore glasses?

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly, OP. Disabled people are so unrepresented that it would barely be noticed. Even in "diverse" places they get no representation. I doubt anybody is going to call you out for it.

[(Anonymous)]

Every writer is not required to write every story.

Not writing disabled people is not the problem. I'm more concerned the reason why. If seeing disabled people makes you that viscerally uncomfortable, it's probably because of fear. (Since you know someone disabled, most likely fear of ending up in their shoes.) Honestly? If I were you, I'd read more about disabilities, what it's like to have one, etc, and do some self cognitive behavioral therapy if you can't afford the real thing. This isn't bigotry. This is a phobia, born out of fear, and I don't imagine living with it is pleasant. Please get some help/do some research and overcome this problem. :)