#SeasonalSonnets 2017: 3rd December

Hello my lovely readers

I'm back for the third entry of this year's #SeasonalSonnets, which was inspired by a combination of two very important things.

Firstly, the fact that today is designated by the UN as the International Day of Disabled People (or International Day of People with Disabilities, depending on who you ask). 'Disabled People' references the Social Model of Disability, and foregrounds the ways people are disabled by society rather than their individual bodies or minds (which experience 'impairments' instead of 'disability'). I use this social framework academically and politically, but both personally and professionally (as a theatre practitioner) I'm acutely aware of the embodied nature of the lived experiences of disability life. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, I tend (personally, not politically) to prefer to focus on my personhood first, which is in line with the person-first phrase 'People with Disabilities'. So I suppose I'm more ambivalent and uncertain about the language I use to describe my own sense of self and my experiences.

That said, I am extremely committed to advocating for social justice in my activism - and it is vital to make that statement in the current climate, especially in the middle of UK Disability History Month. I also know that, whilst my body definitely causes issues, many more problems are posed for me and my friends by the social structures we come up against.

This brings me to my second point of inspiration for today's sonnet, because they are perhaps most prevalent in the literal, physical structures of the built environment. These include obvious obstacles, like steps, but they also include something that most people have the privilege not to think about - toilets. On the first day of UKDHM, I shared the picture which now accompanies this blog post to Instagram, along with some words on my relief at having more choice about which loos I use after a decade of having to be very selective.

You can read that full post here (it's shorter and less rambly than this one, and describes the image). The essence, though, is that I now have a luxury of choice that many people do not - because the loos we call 'accessible' are not really. If you need a hoist or a bench to get changed, you often have to miss out on longer stints of socialising in public because there aren't facilities. This is unfair and undignified. The right to go to the loo (however you need to) in comfort and safety is exactly that - a right - but for many people it feels like the luxury I describe both above and in my Instagram post.

It shouldn't.

That's why, in the UK, we have a campaign called #ChangingPlaces to lobby public spaces and shops to provide better facilities for disabled people and their families. That campaign, and a new petition launched last Sunday, inspired my sonnet today. Not only is it IDPD, it's also the festive season, and  many people can't make the most of that because they worry about needing the loo. So the petition asks all the major supermarkets (including Waitrose, which is linked to John Lewis) to commit to providing more facilities.

I'm sure many people find this little poetic project of mine amusing and frivolous - but hopefully today's entry will persuade you otherwise, and you'll sign the petition here.

If you could, it'd mean a lot. I don't even mind if you read my sonnet below, but here it is (with the promise that tomorrow's post will be shorter. Typing takes a lot of energy that I need to save for my PhD).

Love and spoons - and happy IDDP 2017!

Jx

3^rd December 2017

Today is IDDP 17

(a worldwide day around disabled people)

and therefore, in my sonnet, I am keen

to write about why we, too, should be equal.

It’s also known as IDPWD,

in language that is termed as person-first –

I use the latter phrase (just personally)

but understand why many think it’s worse.

For we must work to break the social structures

which cause discrimination and distress.

Stop using minds and bodies as a rupture:

we are all worthy, no-one more or less.

My body causes issues, that is true;

But more disabling? No access to loos!