<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last\nsemester in my Queer Literature Studies course taught by Professor Haffey, we\nspent one class period talking about the different ways to construct identity.\nOne of the main takeaways from that discussion was that no two people can\nexperience something in exactly the same way. While two people may share many\nlabels in common, there will still be things that each individual is a member\nof that the other is not. In many ways this has informed how I look at identity\nas it is represented or spoken about in discourse around me, and it was\nespecially prominent to me in the readings for today\u2014namely, \u201cUntil\u201d by Ayisha\nKnight and \u201cIntroducing White Disability Studies: A Modest Proposal\u201d by Chris\nBell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right\noff the bat in her poem, Knight confronts the problematic, exclusionary\ndiscourse around several groups with whom she identifies: Things like her\nblackness, queerness, religion, and deafness are often called into question as\nnot being authentic enough for x, y, and z reasons. By pointing these things\nout, she calls attention to the idea that only one kind of experience can be\nrepresentative of an entire group of people. This is, unfortunately, a\nwidespread ideology enforced by the lack of discussion and consideration for intersectionality\nwithin any one group\u2019s discourse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Similarly,\nBell challenges this position in his essay by suggesting the term \u201cDisability\nStudies\u201d be changed to \u201cWhite Disability Studies\u201d to more accurately name those\nwho are included in the discourse (275). Instead of providing a list of ways in\nwhich scholars of White Disability Studies can be more inclusive (a\nconversation that has been had time and time again) he cleverly crafts one that\nwould help the movement remain as whitewashed and singular as it is currently.\nThe irony of his approach is that it not only makes the whiteness of the field\nglaringly obvious, but by listing what they shouldn\u2019t do, he\u2019s telling them\nwhat they need<\/em> to. The fact of the matter is, only providing one form of\nauthentic representation is one way to create and maintain power, over both the\npublic sphere of influence and the individual. In this way, even bodies that\nare \u201cdifferent\u201d can be regimented and managed, which only reinforces the power hierarchy\nthat defines an individual person\u2019s identity and its worth to society: a man is\nmore valued than a woman, a white woman is more valued than a black woman, an\nable-bodied individual is more valued than a disabled individual. Everything\ncan be compared against increasingly complicated and unfair standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This\nis where I can connect Ayisha Knight\u2019s poem to Bell\u2019s essay the best, because\nwhat he calls for\u2014authentic, varied representation in the Disability Studies\nfield\u2014is what Knight proudly champions. She navigates the different parts of\nher identity, brings the listener along on a journey to self-love and\nappreciation, part of which came through in the form of recognition from an\nequal. A lover. She brings to the stage an honest voice that represents many\ndifferent groups simultaneously, all wrapped up in one body\u2014her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I pledge. Emily Saunders<\/p>\n\n\n\n Word Count: 510<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last semester in my Queer Literature Studies course taught by Professor Haffey, we spent one class period talking about the different ways to construct identity. One of the main takeaways from that discussion was that no two people can experience something in exactly the same way. While two people may share many labels in … Continue reading “Emily Saunders\u2019s Response to \u201cUntil\u201d by Ayisha Knight and \u201cIntroducing White Disability Studies: A Modest Proposal\u201d by Chris Bell”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[110,109,111,112,34],"class_list":["post-1738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ayisha-knight","tag-chris-bell","tag-identity","tag-intersectionality","tag-short-reading-response-paper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcJhts-s2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1739,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738\/revisions\/1739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dislit2020.chris-foss.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}