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I came across this read on my Twitter feed and it seemed like an interesting read. However, there are a few points I’d like to make.

The author neglects to mention the circumstances in which a person with disabilities might be considered an inspiration. Oftentimes, people with disabilities are treated as inspirations by random strangers who catch a glimpse of them. Chances are good the person with disabilities are, at that moment, doing things that abled/neurotypical people do. When you don’t know someone’s capabilities and give them a gold star for doing something average, that’s more than a little condescending. The author neglects to mention the kind of “inspiration” that occurs. Inspirationalizing those with disabilities, and reaction to inspiration porn, can often be paraphrased as “My life might be bad, but at least it’s not that bad.” or as “If they can get out there and do something, then I can!” Either way, the people with disabilities are treated as a lower standard. I really shouldn’t need to explain why that’s a bad thing. Inspiration often leads to romanticization, and romanticization often leads to misunderstanding. People have this really messed up idea that tragic = beautiful, and they’ll often shape their understanding of the world around them to fit that pattern. Just look at how people treat depression! When people are “inspired” by random people with disabilities, they will often see a “tragic” figure fighting against the harsh, unfair realities of the world around them–instead of actually seeing them as an actual person. This attitude flattens people with rich histories and lives to simply being disability. This is objectification through and through. That’s why we call this “inspiration porn.” Just as porn objectifies people as sex objects, inspiration porn objectifies people with disabilities as tragic, two-dimensional figures. Misunderstanding one person usually leads to misunderstanding of many people. By touting how one person who is blind can paint these beautiful paintings, people will come to assume that all people who are blind can paint masterpieces. This trivializes individual disabilities, and implies that people with disabilities are lying about their disabilities and their capabilities. See also: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Seeing people with disabilities as inspirational because of their disabilities is uncalled-for othering. Most people who say they are inspired by some random person with disabilities they met on the street are inspired because of the disabilities. This is a disability matter without a doubt. If you wouldn’t treat some random abled/neurotypical passerby as an inspiration for doing X, then treating some random passerby with disabilities as inspirational for doing X is othering. It promotes the gap between those with and without disabilities, which is usually the opposite of what those with disabilities actually want. Sure, some people with disabilities are fine with being inspirations. But those people usually actively do something to be inspiring, such as become a motivational speaker or a disability rights activist.

What do you think, disability community of Tumblr?