Oct 042006
A long, long day, with meetings and presentations and obligatory social events, is coming to an end. Attended a dinner where Steadman…what’s-his-name…Oprah’s boyfriend…was the keynote speaker. Seemed like a nice guy, but corporate motivational-speak doesn’t do much for me. He went on about “overcoming your disability,” which just rings false for me. Again, do women “overcome” their gender? Do people of color “overcome” their ethnicity? Why is the burden on people with disabilities to “overcome” personal and institutional biases that we had no role in shaping or perpetuating?
This is what happens when I’m overtired; I get crabby. Good night.
Overcoming your disability is complete B.S. We can live with it, but sometimes we just can’t beat it, which I think overcoming would suggest.
Quite right too – he is wrong wrong wrong.