A review by just_one_more_paige
Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

 
Well, this is one book that's been sitting on my TBR for awhile. I've been following Taussig (@sitting_pretty) in IG for years and the confluence of Disability Pride month in July and finding a copy at my local used bookstore (and realizing that Hoopla had the audiobook!) meant the time was now! 
 
This collection of essays blends memoir, theory, and a bit of research/data to paint a full, and accessible, look at the reality of disability, being disabled and disability rights in the US. As Taussig points out, many times (and rightfully so), hers is just one perspective in a tapestry of individual lives and experiences with disability, one that is shaped - not insignificantly - by the other privileges she has (being white, educated, employed, cisgender and straight, etc.). But it does function as a fantastic, compulsively readable, primer for those who are not disabled (nor caregivers for the disabled) themselves. Taussig tells the reader all about growing up without the full use of her legs and then moving into the majority of her time spent in a wheelchair. She talks about her friends and summer camp jobs and crushes, as well as the pressing fears of not being loved, of being a burden, of how to pay for her body, of how to navigate in a world that is not at all set up for someone with a (any) disability. And she intersperses these stories with history and policy and conversations and advocacy and myriad other insights that take this past "just" a memoir and into the realm of introductory social science and social justice. 
 
There is something really special about Taussig's writing. It's the kind of writing that is so personable that it makes you feel like she's actually there, having this incredible and educational conversation with you (probably in my case helped along by the fact that I also listened to the audiobook, which she read herself). She is open and honest about some places she has struggled and some of the less than complementary reactions/thoughts of her own that she's had, which makes it so much less painful (which is perhaps not a relief we all deserve) to confront some/many of the places where we have fallen short as disability allies. Plus, it's all so lightly and humorously presented, despite the fact that she holds no punches as far as how deeply she is critiquing the current systems and infrastructures.   
 
If you have never really considered how a person with a disability might navigate in the world that's been built without them in mind and/or how effective any policy changes to make things more accessible have been, this is a great first read to introduce these topics in a broad sweep, but still with nuance and a personal touch. Even for someone like myself that has already read some on this topic, there is always something new to learn or a unique perspective to consider. And I found that Taussig had a number of compelling moments on that note. In particular, I thought she had a thorough discussion of the connection between media portrayals of disabilities and how that informs the way the world treats disability (from physical structure to policy to social assumptions). It was difficult to read, but important, to see how even at a young age it affected her deeply. And how on the flip side, with the high schoolers she teaches now, it is so ingrained that even malleable brains like theirs struggle to see another way. 
 
I also enjoyed the commentary she had about the universal truth of having a body, the compromises we all must make for its health and safety and survival (some more than others of course), and the way that if we have less issues with that part of our lives, it’s easy to look away from/ignore how something devastating could happen at any moment and how we *truly* aren’t any more protected (financially, socially, knowledgeably, etc) due to a history of a “healthier” body. It was honestly a terrifying thing to consider. But a deeply important concept. This naturally flowed into a look at the idea of universal design (as I first really read about in Beyond Gender) and the fact that life doesn't have to be and, in fact, is not a zero sum game (as The Sum of Us details gorgeously). The way Taussig presents that we'd all benefit from more flexibility and accessibility makes it just feel...obvious. And that seems like the mark of a great "argument" (as it were). 
 
I really loved the chapter where she reckons with how her own identities, of womanhood and disability, overlap and contrast and are either encompassed by (or not) the feminist movement, both from a policy and environment perspective. It was elucidate and heartbreaking to read about the complexities of her personal experiences of feeling left out and secret/shameful joy when included even in the bad things (i.e. catcalling). It was so breathtakingly honest and cuts all the deeper for it. And, I was appreciative of the way she examined, and gave examples of what would be better, what it means to be accessible, what is actually helpful versus what "seems" helpful or is a surface-level fix that doesn't address the actual need to take the person's dignity into account. (Plus, her point about making sure that those accessibility options are financially available to anyone who needs them is key.) This too followed a natural flow, again, to the concepts of universal design and accommodations that would actually benefit everyone. And it happened alongside a concept that harkens back to my reading of Haben Girma’s memoir, Haben, (and a concept that is fictionally explored in Solomon's Sorrowland as well), in which Taussig recognizes how accommodations like glasses are so ubiquitous now that vision impairment isn’t seen as a disability in the same way as it used to be (or closed captioning for tv/videos) and, reasonably, asks why it isn’t possible to do that elsewhere too. 
 
I had two major takeaways from this, other than loving the writing and being surprised and a bit disappointed when I was finished with the book so fast (I wanted more!). The first is a hard truth: that it seemed, on the whole, that even from childhood, exhaustion was a primary theme in Taussig's life. And that exhaustion came more from living in a world not built for her, that the burden of existing in the world in her body is more than the burden of the body itself. Can we really not do better than that? The second is one that leaves some hope. Taussig reiterated over and over that just a little imagination can create so many new ideas and options that could create a better and more inclusive world. Even if we aren't doing well now, as humanity, we can get creative and use all the power of that ubiquitous imagination and potential and innovation to find and make something more. And that is encouraging.  
 
“The idea that some of us are firmly fixed in the "able-bodied" category is a fiction. A world built on speed, productivity, more, more, more! and far too few bathrooms (and bathroom breaks) does not consider or care for the actual bodies we live in. In other words, ableism affects all of us, whether we consider ourselves disabled or not. Because the disabled body is most powerfully affected by ableism, it is the first to cast a light on the structure, to resist and protest it, to call for its public execution, but we're all living under its dictates. Ableism punishes all of us.” 
 
“Ableism separates, isolates, assumes. It's starved for imagination, creativity, and curiosity. It's fueled by fear. It oppresses. All of us.” 
 
“Instead of disability as the limitation, what if a lack of imagination was the actual barrier? It's our affinity for familiarity that traps us. Our impulse to adhere to that which came before. To stick with the script, follow instructions, keep with the norms. I think the assumption is that this will keep us safe. But the truth is, of course, we are never safe.” 
 
“A group is marginalized because society marginalizes them. Society also has the power to change that. What would it mean for disabled folks if society saw us as acceptable, equal, valuable parts of the whole?” 
 
“I live in a culture that uses my form as a symbol, a shorthand, an illustration for something else - weakness, captivity, and victimization or super strength, triumph and feel-good inspiration. Even if I do claim a narrative all my own, when I go out in public, I can feel others' stories written all over my body - stories I didn't and would never choose for myself. [...] Our stories continually reduce disability into something small - a trinket to manipulate - as if an experience as sweeping, rambling, layered, contradictory, ordinary, vibrant and human as disability could be reduced to something so one-dimensional.” 
 
“So many of us agree to these rules, even as we know we don't thrive there. We're rewarded when we fit tidily into the parameters set before us, so we pretend, mask, and go along with it as best we can. Those who simply cannot fit are highlighted as outsiders who need something extra to make it work. Instead of looking at the larger, varied collection of humans on a team and creating a structure that accounts for their real experiences, needs, desires, and motivations, so often work systems prefer to dispense the smallest portions of flexibility to the ones who simply cannot fake it any longer [...] I'm glad employers are required by law to dispense those small portions of flexibility. It's invaluable change. It's also entirely limited by the larger environment - the larger cultural values surrounding work and the people in charge - that houses it.” 
 
“Maybe the tender center of what I'm trying to say is this: there's something disorienting about being both a Woman and Disabled.” 
 
“Nuance is harder to rally around or shout from a megaphone, but it's also sturdier and more sustainable.” 
 
“When I imagine the shape of kindness that actually feels like kindness, it necessarily includes the pieces of this moment with [Amanda]: dignity and an unwavering understanding that falling is not the worst thing that can happen to a person.” 
 
“When I take a beat and look around, I don't know where my personal insecurities end and ableism picks up. [...] I mean - really - what would happen if I stumbled onto some alternate universe made perfectly accessible to me? It's hard to imagine such an unfamiliar flow of confidence, self-assuredness, and ease.” 
 
“My experience of inaccessibility is cumulative. [...] It's a way of being in the world, or just outside of the world. [...] Inaccessibility over time tells me that I do not matter, am not wanted, do not belong.” 
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