Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'
Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism by Elsa Sjunneson
5 reviews
bookishmillennial's review
“It is a truth universally unacknowledged that you could become disabled at any point in your life. No matter how perfectly your limbs, eyes, ears, and whatever else works, it could all change in an instant.”
I am not someone who believes that you must find a way to connect to/have something directly impact you to care, so I do think the above quotation is important for people to get through their dense heads, but I also think we should build a more accessible world just because it's the right thing to do. Not everything has to be about *us* in order to make choices that promote accessibility and disability justice and equity.
Anyway, this was a fantastic, informative read which provided such a valuable disabled perspective - I listened to the audiobook on Everand, and if that's accessible to you, I really enjoyed that format. Sjunneson has chapters on dating, representation in media, navigating physical spaces like Comic Con, fandom, eugenics, inspiration porn, gender expressions and their impact on how a disabled person is treated, healthcare, police brutality, sexual/emotional/physical abuse, and much more. She notes both her lived experience, as well as societal attitudes and norms, and I really am so grateful that Sjunneson so graciously shared all of this with us.
I highly recommend ALL non-disabled folks to read this, and if you are a disabled person, I think there is value and a need to commiserate and lament with someone who just gets it. I think this should be required reading for anyone who is not as familiar with disability justice or the intersection of disability yet. I also just think everyone should read this!
Other quotations that stood out to me (I may just buy a physical or digital copy so I can go back and highlight more!):
“I was enough before ableism came for me. My dearest wish is that society will learn to accept disabled bodies as whole, instead of viewing disabled bodies as lesser than, instead of creating value judgements based on how a disabled person accesses their world.
Wholeness is not determined by how many eyes you have or how many working ears you have. It doesn't depend on which limbs work or how many of them you have, either. Wholeness is about personhood, and honoring the bodies of your fellow humans.”
“The English language is perniciously ableist. We speak in metaphor that constantly puts down disabled bodies, with phrases like "turning a blind eye" and "it fell on deaf ears" falling from our lips so easily. People often tell me it's not that big of a deal. But, of course, if you've been listening to your language make you sound stupid, ignorant, and useless for your entire life, when you've made a profession out of the craft of language, you cannot help but find pain in the ways that language cuts you to the quick."
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Chronic illness, Bullying, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Body shaming, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts
northernzephyr's review
5.0
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Domestic abuse
bookwyrmknits's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Police brutality
heydebigale's review
5.0
I learned so many things from this book. Even being aware of ableist language that is so pervasive, I learned and was reminded of words and phrases we do casually use that perpetuates incredible harm.
While my disability is completely different from Elsa’s I found certain aspects of this book incredibly relatable. Particularly the chapter on motherhood and disability. I was also discouraged from having children because of my disability. I hadn’t thought to label that eugenics, but it is.
My only teeny-tiny complaint is that I was super excited to read Elsa’s critique of ableism in the romance genre (because it’s a problem!), but all of the romantic books that Elsa referred to are not genre romance. So that was a bummer because I’d love to hear Elsa’s thoughts on Phoebe and Trevillion (for example).
I did a mix of audio and print and the Audio is narrated by Elsa and it’s very funny! Highly recommend both versions of the book.
Graphic: Ableism and Suicidal thoughts
skudiklier's review
5.0
This book is a must-read for anyone, but especially for nondisabled people. It's half memoir, half critical analysis, but all things that need to be said. If you're unsure why ableism in media can be harmful, how disability looks different for different people, what reason disabled people might have to fear the police--Elsa Sjunneson covers it all. This book made me so frustrated and upset at points, but it points out just how much change is needed (with a focus on the United States, because that's what the author has experience with).
Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Elsa Sjunneson for the chance to review this ARC.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Police brutality and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
caregiver murder; also, detailed content warnings for each chapter can be found at the author's website