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A review by perpetualpages
Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From the Twenty-first Century by Alice Wong
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
CWs: Content warnings precede every chapter as needed, the most prominent being ableism (external and internal), assault, and abuse of disabled peoples
Disability Visibility is a fantastic sampling of so many incredible disabled creatives. While there's no possible way for one anthology to speak to every single kind of disability there is, I found this collection to highlight a great range of experiences. I love the freedom of expression this anthology captures, because there's no set topic that each piece has to touch on. Each person got to speak on whatever topic felt most important to them in the way they wanted to, which allows them to parse their experience with disability through whatever lens they choose.
And in that same vein, the introduction makes a great point about how disabled communities are strongly connected to creativity, because the solutions they both need and create in order to maneuver, communicate, survive, and engage are solutions borne of challenging and rejecting the "norm." And that tilt towards evolution, that mindset, is apparent even in the essays themselves, which take on so many different forms—from eulogies, to experimental forms, to transcripts. Each piece is expressed in the way it needs to be expressed, and I think that freedom made so much more room for these creatives to share their stories.
The collection sheds light on the realities of different experiences with disabilities, but at the same time doesn't expect the writers to extol their hardships in order to "earn the empathy" of non-disabled audiences. Instead, I think there's more of a focus on disability activism, and how the need for disability justice and accessibility is rooted in every single fight for social justice. White supremacy, racism, colonialism, cisnormativity, heteronormativity, gender inequality, the fight against reproductive rights, the erasure of Indigenous peoples—there is a direct connection between ableism and all of those things. This is a collection that challenges non-disabled audiences on their culpability in creating and benefiting from ableist practices and mindsets, and reminding us that the world is bigger, better, and more interesting when we make space for everyone's existence.
Overall, this is a great collection of essays highlighting amazing creators of all different backgrounds, cultures, intersectionalities, and experiences, and showcases both the incredible work they do and the lives they lead, and I think it's a great starting point for non-disabled readers, especially.
Disability Visibility is a fantastic sampling of so many incredible disabled creatives. While there's no possible way for one anthology to speak to every single kind of disability there is, I found this collection to highlight a great range of experiences. I love the freedom of expression this anthology captures, because there's no set topic that each piece has to touch on. Each person got to speak on whatever topic felt most important to them in the way they wanted to, which allows them to parse their experience with disability through whatever lens they choose.
And in that same vein, the introduction makes a great point about how disabled communities are strongly connected to creativity, because the solutions they both need and create in order to maneuver, communicate, survive, and engage are solutions borne of challenging and rejecting the "norm." And that tilt towards evolution, that mindset, is apparent even in the essays themselves, which take on so many different forms—from eulogies, to experimental forms, to transcripts. Each piece is expressed in the way it needs to be expressed, and I think that freedom made so much more room for these creatives to share their stories.
The collection sheds light on the realities of different experiences with disabilities, but at the same time doesn't expect the writers to extol their hardships in order to "earn the empathy" of non-disabled audiences. Instead, I think there's more of a focus on disability activism, and how the need for disability justice and accessibility is rooted in every single fight for social justice. White supremacy, racism, colonialism, cisnormativity, heteronormativity, gender inequality, the fight against reproductive rights, the erasure of Indigenous peoples—there is a direct connection between ableism and all of those things. This is a collection that challenges non-disabled audiences on their culpability in creating and benefiting from ableist practices and mindsets, and reminding us that the world is bigger, better, and more interesting when we make space for everyone's existence.
Overall, this is a great collection of essays highlighting amazing creators of all different backgrounds, cultures, intersectionalities, and experiences, and showcases both the incredible work they do and the lives they lead, and I think it's a great starting point for non-disabled readers, especially.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse