The redoubtable Julie Burchill on disability

[ArabellaSaurus]

An exceptional column from JB, including some 'intersectionality' that I hadn't really been fully aware of previously:

'Disabled people — I have to get used to saying “we” — make up about 15 per cent of the world’s population but as they are more likely to be poor and socially excluded, and perhaps disenfranchised, politicians do not suck up to them. Children with disabilities are four times more likely to be victims of violence. Women with disabilities are twice as likely to face domestic violence and three times as likely to be raped or sexually assaulted. People with disabilities generally suffer one and a half times more violence than people without disabilities.'

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/article/julie-burchill-invalid-is-a-ghastly-word-but-thats-what-i-am-now-7nc03t3nq

https://archive.ph/7BNlr

The entire article is highly recommended. I've loved Julie's writing since I was a teenager, and she's only getting better.

Great piece. I subscribe to her substack where she provides regular updates on her condition, and it's endlessly interesting and compelling because she's such a good writer. I do think she believes a little too much in her own myth - telling us how resilient she is when just a few months ago she attempted suicide. But then, she's always been like that. Still worth a read.

“Yet because life is sweet, most of us would prefer to die old and sick than young and healthy; we cling to existence, like ruined autumn leaves to the tree that gave us life and looked on with such pride in the summer of our lives.”

Poetry. Such great writing.

Oh poor Julie. I read all her articles on The Spectator. She tries hard to be brave but she might be putting too much pressure on herself. I hope her husband is looking after her. She has a big following on The Speccie.

She is absolutely great. I hope she’s reading this and knows how much she is admired. That article brought a lump to my throat, the courage and honesty were extraordinary.

It’s much cheaper and easier to be inclusive to LGBT and stick up some flags.
Real inclusivity takes effort.

She has a wonderful substack called Halfling, also very moving and unmawkish.

So bloody true. I work in the NHS.There's emails aplenty about inclusivity and DEI but when I change my stoma bag I have to put my stuff on a bin because they haven't spent the money to make the disabled toilets 'stoma friendly.'

I have come to the conclusion that things like sex and disability, are really fundamentally differernt than things like sexual preference, gender (whatever that is,) or race. And probably need to be thought of as not really part of the same kinds of initiatives pr problems.

Accomodating someone who is deaf in a job is in fact really a problem in many cases, it can be impossible. Similarly, needing to accommodate maternity leave is a real burden that an employer has to actively manage.

Hiring someone gay or Asian is nothing like that. it's purely prejudice of some kind.

make the disabled toilets 'stoma friendly

So that's what that little shelf I see in the accessible loos in the newest building at work is for.

Thank you for posting this. My God I love this woman and her writing. So much here that I share in my own crumbling body, although we differ in that I feel such shame for the way in which I'm deteriorating. I should take more leaves from her book.

She’s a very good writer. This is very true

Furthermore, it seems that as society becomes more solicitous of those with mental health problems, the less it seems to care about the legions of lame, blind and otherwise physically afflicted

The only thing I’d add would be the word “performatively” before “solicitous”, because much of the solicitude is in the form of lip service only, and people with real and severe mental health problems are often ignored, dismissed or treated with something approaching cruelty.

Yes, this. People parrot "it's OK not to be OK" but heaven forbid that you actually tell them that you're not OK.

I’ve done MHFA and Suicide First Aid training. We’re taught that we shouldn’t take on the responsibility of care for the person in distress. It’s about signposting to the best support, be that family, a service supplied by the workplace, or professional support.

But if you are in distress and that person directs you to support services who are then overwhelmed / too busy / challenging to access, then what.

It’s great MH is talked about, but without sufficient support services to help, it’s just performative as a PP said because what can someone DO. I found it the hardest part of my training, because it really upsets me that I could direct someone to a service, do everything I can, and they’d be no better off.

Thanks for the archive link. I can't think of any other writer, alive or dead, who can write about their own suicide attempt with such a lack of self pity.

I do worry for Julie though and I hope she has good people looking after her.

Just sending you and best wishes.

Thank you!

Poor Julie, I've never been much of a fan. I disagree with some, agree with some. I hope she's able to recover, I hadn't realised that she'd tried to end it.

If you come across this thread, Julie, heartfelt best wishes.