Description of Art: This piece was created on paper, in a vertical rectangle shape, using colorful markets in pink, blue, orange, green, and black. There is a poem centered along the piece and it reads: “When you hear me, I make a mistake, You raise your hand, And I don’t fear it, There is a weight on my head, It isn’t stress, It’s your hand, Patting me like a dog, Everyone loves dogs, And you love me, And you love me..” There is a green road-like line going through the middle of the piece, horizontally. Throughout the piece there are dots, stars, squiggly lines going in a circle, and hearts. At the edges of the piece there is a green house and bookshelf. There is a blue silhouette of a dog’s head. There is also a pink book, a pink silhouette of a cat’s head and a pink drawing pencil.
Artist: Lessa (They/It) Interview: This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Lessa (They/It) shared with us on August 9th, 2024.
Lessa (They/It) is a lover of digital and physical art, in fact they sometimes take commissions. They are a young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth and described themself as a queer non-binary lesbian with both physical and mental disabilities.
Describing their Art:
“When I first got to (housing program) I found it really hard to sleep in my bedroom because I was anticipating the other shoe drop, where it would be revealed that it was not in fact as safe as it was.”
Lessa recalled some advice that people should avoid reaching to pet the top of a dog’s head because it could create fear. They said there is panic that comes with being helped because you expect a “smack” and not the weight of a “gentle hand” on your head. “I’m allowed to not be a perfect human being and still be helped. I’m allowed to make mistakes and there still be a roof over my head and food on my table.”
Lessa feels like the program they’re in reaches out, not with anger but with concern when they are struggling. They want to know how to make it better, make it okay, “And what is more okay than a dog?”
When it comes to systems… Lessa feels like the people who get to decide if they are “disabled enough” don’t understand the disabled experience.
“People in power around disability seem to be inclined to assume they know the best and treat disabled people like they’re all children or stupid, especially people with mental disabilities.”
Lessa was intentional about using the line “When you hear me” in their poem to emphasize how important it is to listen to disabled folks. When it comes to the folks who view this piece…
Lessa expressed hope that you find humor in the way they compare themself to a dog but also see the symbolism.
“A dog is man’s best friend, this person just wants to be liked, understood, and accepted. Dogs will tear apart entire houses and people will forgive them. And yet, if a person does that because of a mental illness or a disability, they’re usually demonized…Try to understand why.”
Abstract: The paper explores the intersection of racism and ableism, by focusing on the experiences of Black women with disabilities. It argues that Black disabled women are more at risks of sexual violence due to their intersecting identities. The idea of intersectionality highlights how multiple identities (race, gender, disability) combine to create unique experiences of discrimination.
Synchronus Oppression: How Ableism and Mysogynoir Combine to Put Black Disabled Women at Risk
Both ableism and racism are rooted in white supremacist ideals that undervalue those who do not conform to white, able-bodied norms. Black women with disabilities are especially vulnerable to sexual violence due to a combination of misogynoir and the societal minimizing of disabled bodies. While disabled individuals are often desexualized and infantilized, Black women are hypersexualized, creating conflicting and harmful stereotypes that combine to put Black disabled women at risk for sexual violence.
According to the Center for Disability Rights, ableism is “a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other” (Smith, n.d.). Racism is defined as believing that one is superior or inferior due to their perceived race (Racist Definition & Meaning, 2024). The intersection of race and disability creates a reality where black women who are disabled are often victims of sexual violence and are not given adequate justice due to their identity. It is becoming more and more accepted in society that the concept of a personal or perceived identity allows for a unique experience for individuals. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw which acknowledges the fact that people hold multiple identities that intersect to create a unique perspective that creates a unique experience for everyone (Intersectionality – FYS 101 – Research Guides at Syracuse University Libraries, 2024).
Everyone holds multiple identities and it is the combination of the perceived identities that society bestows on some people more power than others. This power not only affects how one can climb the social ladder, but also the risk factors for sexual violence. This creates a situation where their intersection of identities puts Black women who identify as disabled at the risk for sexual violence. It is widely acknowledged that women make up most of the sexual violence survivors (Sexual Assault Statistics, n.d.) but many of those women are Black (Thompson et al., 2012,). This sexism and racism are a combination better known as misogynoir, a term coined by Moya Bailey, meaning the aversion or prejudice against Black women (Misogynoir Definition & Meaning, n.d.). Bailey explains that misogynoir encompasses the oppression that Black women face because of their gender and race (Bailey, 2021, pg. 1). Despite the newness of the term, misogynoir has roots that trace back to slavery. These roots can be seen all throughout digital media and affect the way that Black women are viewed and treated (Bailey, 2021). Examples of this can be seen all throughout the media, especially today in women’s sports. Oftentimes Black women are demonized and harrassed for showing similar emotions as their white counterparts. In both fiction and nonfiction media, Black women are often painted in a hypersexual light and seen to fit the “Jezabel” persona.
Historically, Black people have had lack of access to opportunity, justice, healthcare, and bodily autonomy and people living with disabilities have had a similar history. Black people being seen as lesser simply due to their skin color created a space where it was disabling to be Black.
The idea that a Black person should be “fixed” of their blackness by associating themselves closer to whiteness is not only racist, but also ableist. The idea of ableism comes from white supremacist ideals which include that anyone who is not the ideal (white or able bodied), should be looked down on and feared/pitied (Hayden et al., 2020). Hayden et al. writes about the idea of the “sick role” and how it relates to the way people with chronic illnesses are seen (Hayden et al., 2020). Talcot Parsons states that the worst symptom of chronic illness is the lack of economic productivity (Hayden et al., 2020). Meaning that when a person’s disability reduces their ability to contribute economically, they are less valuable. A similar belief has been pushed on Black people since slavery, where Black people were considered more or less valuable depending on their ability to work. These ideals show that historically both Black people and people with disabilities are only seen as valuable when they contribute to the white ableist agenda.
Due to ableism, people living with a disability are often desexualized and are denied their bodily and sexual autonomy(Santos, 2017). The phenomenon of this is defined as infantilization, meaning to reduce to an infantile state (INFANTILIZE Definition & Meaning, n.d.). The association with the word infant is significant because society does not see infants as sexual. It is understood that children and adolescents should be given the proper tools to live as an adult for people living with disabilities, the experience is not the same. Due to the lack of personhood given to those living with disabilities, they are often not given the tools needed for adulthood. For example, teens living with disabilities aren’t given adequate sex education like their able-bodied peers(Santos, 2017). On the other hand, black women have been historically seen as hypersexualized creatures and are often victims of adultification no matter the age.
Adultification is defined as treating a child like an adult, often in a way that is problematic (ADULTIFICATION Definition | Cambridge English Dictionary, n.d.). This comes up constantly in the justice system when Black girls are disproportionately punished in educational settings and in the juvenile justice systems (Murray, n.d.). A survey showed that Black girls were seen as more knowledgeable about sex than White girls of the same age (Murray, n.d.). Black women are unable to outgrow this ideology and are seen as hypersexual into adulthood. Gyampo writes, “A white woman’s dignity has always been seen as something that needed to be protected, while Black women aren’t protected…the mistreatment of their bodies is warranted” (Gyampo, 2021). When hypersexualization and infantilization combine, it creates a space for someone who has been given very little sexual education due to their disability status and someone who has been hypersexualized since childhood due to the color of their skin and their gender. It is not coincidental that there are high rates of sexual violence among those living with a disability and black women (Sexual Assault Statistics, n.d.). This is even more concerning due to the lack of justice that these identities get when violence is enacted on them. Despite this, there is a lack of research done on this specific group of people.
One can hypothesize that the struggles of this group have to do with issues of the way that both identities are viewed. Because sexualization has such strong ties to a body meeting a sexual ideal, it is a clear reasoning for the lack of sexualization of people who are disabled. There is a clear idea of the type of body/mind that can be sexual (which ties to white supremacy) which doesn’t line up with the way people living with disabilities are viewed. Additionally, because reproduction is such a big part of being sexual, society is uncomfortable with people who are disabled having children who may disabled as well. In a similar sense, black people have historically been seen as having an almost animalistic sense of sexuality that has made people more comfortable with using them as sexual objects especially when compared to their white counterparts. During slavery, sexual violence was used as a way for white slave owners to take advantage of black women and strip them of their bodily autonomy. Even though there is such a strong history of hypersexualizing black women, there are clear objections to reproduction through sterilizing. Meaning, people are comfortable with the lack of sexuality among people living with disabilities because it ensures that they will not reproduce. Racism and ableism go hand in hand, and it is impossible to solve one issue without addressing the other. Both issues share a common root, white supremacy, and common consequences that affect people’s bodily autonomy and access to justice when harm is enacted towards them. It is important to enact comprehensive sexual education in schools for everyone, regardless of their level of ability. In these lessons it is imperative that lessons revolve around consent and how identities play a part in consent. The CDC article,Mobilizing Men and Boys as Alliesto, is written in hopes to increase favorable attitudes towards women and girls (Basile et al., 2016). This would potentially reduce the number of sexual violence victims; however, this solution fails to consider the statistics that show marginalized communities i.e. Black women and disabled people are disproportionately victims of sexual violence. It would be beneficial for the CDC to create a new list of recommendations to prevent sexual violence that includes the nuances of race and disability. I would recommend that the CDC consider the cultural nuances that add to the culture of violence against Black disabled women. Additionally, it is important to challenge the stereotypes about Black women and people living with disabilities that are pushed in the media to allow for marginalized identities to be awarded the same complex characteristics in media that White people have been given for so long (Bailey, 2021, pg. 2).
References
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Bailey, M. (2021). Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance. New York
University Press.
Basile, K. C., DeGue, S., Jones, K., Freire, K., Dills, J., Smith, S. G., & Raiford, J. L. (2016). Sexual Violence Prevention Resource for Action. CDC. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/sexual-violence/communication-resources/SV-Prevention-Resource
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Gyampo, A. (2021, October 22). The Hypersexualization of Black People. RISD Museum. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from
Hayden, A., Klabusich, K., Montague, P., Cohn, M., Conley, J., Bader, E. J., Zhang, S.,
Goodman, A., & Moushabeck, M. (2020, September 15). Ableism and White Supremacy Are Intertwined — We Must Confront Them Together. Truthout. Retrieved May 22, 2024, from https://truthout.org/articles/ableism-and-white-supremacy-are-intertwined-we-must-confr ont-them-together/
INFANTILIZE Definition & Meaning. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/infantilize
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Misogynoir Definition & Meaning. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved May 22, 2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misogynoir
Murray, P. (n.d.). Girlhoood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood. The Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://genderjusticeandopportunity.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/girlhoo d-interrupted.pdf
Oliver, K., & Abdullahi, O. (2019, September 17). What it means to be black, disabled women navigating sex – gal-dem. Gal-Dem. Retrieved May 23, 2024, from https://gal-dem.com/what-it-means-to-be-black-disabled-women-navigating-sex/
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Santos, A. L. (2017, April 19). Yes, we fuck! Challenging the misfit sexual body through disabled women’s narratives. Disability and sexuality: Desires and pleasures, 21(3). Sage
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Thompson, N. J., McGee, R. E., & Mays, D. (2012, August). Race, Ethnicity, Substance Use, and Unwanted Sexual Intercourse among Adolescent Females in the United States.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Priscah Norwood
Priscah Norwood was born and raised in Fort Wayne and now resides in Indianapolis. She attends Indiana University Indianapolis and will graduate in May 2025. She enjoys learning, music, and a good movie.
Image Description: Priscah is wearing a black and white sweater with red braids standing against a white backdrop.
Image Description: A drawing of a woman with short red hair and wearing black glasses. Only her face above the mouth is seen. We don’t see her wheelchair. However, we know she is sitting in a wheelchair because we see a headrest behind her head.
ABOUT THE DRAWING:
This piece done in colored pencil and acrylic ink is loosely based on a photograph. The title The Ableist Lens? is meant to pose the question to the viewer about whether minimizing our wheelchairs or devices truly emphasizes beauty the mouth and eyes of the subject are obscured to show that excluding that part of ourselves by default minimizes us as people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stacye Robison
Stacye Robinson lives in Indianapolis. with her husband Ryne and cat Calvin. she is committed to gentle activism in accordance with her Christian faith.
Image Description: Stacye Robinson is waiting by a bus stop on Mass Ave seated in her black wheelchair in a green bubble coat and black leggings she has short brown hair and brown eyes.
Image Description: digital drawing of a cartoonish person standing in a grey and plain landscape, looking up at the viewer with a hand extended forward, offering a hand shake. The person is wearing a polo shirt and long pants along with a mask showing a smiling face, all the same color as the background. The person is vibrant blue, their arms, hair, and exhausted eyes visible.
“Masking Pains” is about the difficulty in trying to get employment and housing when you’re forced to hide your symptoms as best you can in interviewing processes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: G. Rice
I’m 23 years old and have been drawing digitally for around a decade now. I started drawing regularly after discovering anime at 12 but my current art and writing is more inspired by the humour and surrealism of the 90s and 00s cartoons I grew up on. I’m a very big fan of horror in multiple mediums (games, art, writing, movies, etc.) and am part of goth, punk, and metal head subcultures which have influenced the style and content of my art.
