The Disabled Villain Trope
I am not your villain.
The Disabled Villain Trope
Trigger warning: suicide, ableism.
I have just been frantically scrawling the internet for ‘part-time remote jobs near me’ after hearing the news that our Conservative government want to cut benefits for disabled folks.
Want to know how many suitable jobs I found?
Zero.
Not one job that would be suitable for a chronically ill, autistic, ADHDer . Not unless I was prepared to make myself even more ill.
Is that what I must do to be allowed to exist in this society? Must I forfeit the very small ounce of ‘health’ I have simply to appease the Tories? Must I sacrifice my current (already low) quality of life, in order to ‘do my duty’*?
*Yes, this was actually said by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on live TV. To quote Laura Trott, “ultimately, there is a duty on citizens that if they are able to go out and work, that’s what they should do”.
Quite frankly I think it is astonishing to hear the Tories tell us what our duty is whilst continuing to show complete disregard towards any of their duties as leaders of this country.
Tory Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, warned there will be a “crackdown” on “anyone choosing to coast on the hard work of taxpayers”.
I mean, where to start with this one?
Firstly, crackdown? Disabled people are not mastermind crime lords or fraudsters. Even if we wanted to be we simply do not have the capacity because we have to spend all our energy on trying to exist as a disabled person in an ableist, capitalist society. It would be more suitable and fruitful to look within the Tory government if you really wanted to ‘crackdown’ on criminality’.
Secondly, choosing? I find it utterly bizarre that anyone would believe disabled people choose to a). be disabled and b). have to rely on government financial aid simply to survive (not that it is enough to survive on anyhow).
Thirdly, coast? I wish I could describe my life as coasting. What a joke. I think sinking or drowning would be a better word.
Lastly, hard work of the taxpayers? Honestly, it is becoming boring how often the government tries (and succeeds) to vilify disabled people. It is a tired trope that we have seen for generations not only in government but in film and media (even in fairytales) that disabled people are the bad guys and vice versa.
Think of all the villains in Disney movies: the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, the Evil Queen disguised as the old lady that gave Snow White a poisonous apple, Captain Hook, Ursula in the Little Mermaid etc. Now think about how many of them are depicted as ugly, deformed and hideous. This is insidious stereotyping that makes its way into real life.
When films vilify disability and use disability to other and demonise a character, it can be harmful in a multitude of ways and alters the way we look at and think about disabled people in the real world. We begin to view disabled people as ‘the bad guys’ and the ‘problem’. Quite literally, we become the villains.
We have so far to go with accessibility and accommodations within the workplace for disabled people, let alone the ableist mindset employers have. And yet we have a government that is telling us we must work, irregardless of how it will affect us in the long run, or else our benefits will be taken from us. It is wildly ableist (and verging on eugenics) to sanction government aid that disabled people rely on to live whilst doing nothing to make society more accessible and accommodating.
What it will mean to many disabled people if we lose government aid:
Unable to afford medication that keeps us alive due to having to pay for prescriptions.
Unable to afford rent and bills potentially resulting in homelessness.
Having to rely even more on partners/spouses potentially resulting in fractured relationships and resentment.
Attempting to work to survive, likely resulting in a worsening of health and then being back to square one.
Sadly, I think this will also cause many disabled people to die by suicide due to the utter hopelessness we’ll face without this support.
As a disabled person myself that receives financial support because I cannot work, this is actually terrifying. I am scared. But not only and I scared, I also feel like a burden. A burden to my husband, to my family, to my friends and to society. So congratulations to the Tories, you have been successful in your persecution of disabled folk.
We must get the Conservative party out of government. We need a general election, now.
Further reading:
Opinion piece by Rachel Carlton-Dailey (disability advocate and writer)
Thank you for reading and please feel free to share this post.
Georgia x