Pitch, Please!
Re-Launching The Disabled Feminist Newsletter ⚧️
The trouble all began with a joke, such is the way.
Before the Elon Musk takeover of Twitter, what’s now known as X was ablaze with disgust - because, simply put, why do bookshops not have a designated disability section? ‘Disease’, at the time, was a common category. Who wants to read about their lives under such a category - is this not the twenty first century? Why is it that we fail so very much to tell the truth of a very real, lived experience?
Cue sigh number one, two, three of the day, and not for the last time, either.
Exchanging Voice Notes on WhatsApp about this very public catfight I watched from the sidelines, a throwaway remark was made in exchange - along the lines of ‘what are you going to do, the disabled feminist? What can you actually feasibly do?’ Not much. But that’s a throw down of a challenge.
Newsletters at the time were all about pitching - how to pitch, why you should pitch, what to pitch, who to pitch to - but I’d been dreaming of long form essays about feminism and disability. Where do we see that, exactly? Feminism has a long way to go in platforming disabled women - and not using us as a political football, just to score points.
The ‘sobriquet’ was born as a result. And it’s also why the title for this was ‘Pitch, please.’ (Think about it…)
Since then, this has been something of a space to process recovery from Long Covid, as well as re-establish my sense of a universe that was somewhat fractured post infection. This has been where I think, where I have written to find out what I think. I had to re-learn how to write - and to a certain extent, I still am doing that when it comes to structure - but at least, we can sort of try to make it funny? At the very least, a joke here and there while looking at the intersection of disability and feminism.
If you can make people laugh, they will always remember how you made them feel - and I think this is a generally solid ‘bet’ when working in any creative sphere.
Over the last few weeks, I have rejigged this newsletter quite a bit. You’ll notice the new header, the darker blue branding - and the website that hosts all these essays also has a new look, too. It’s crisper, more minimalistic and tidy, as well as consolidating everything into clearer categories.
Going forward, there will be:
Occasional free posts - usually once a month.
Full archive access to paywall members, who will also receive any news from me first.
And a monthly extra email of small vignettes, resources, reading material and other ‘extras’. This will also include seasonal ‘Access Audit’ list.
While pulling this together, I was also thinking about the values I wanted to define this newsletter. Seemingly, every creative now has a Substack newsletter; I’ve been a user since 2020. I’m also fed up with disability reporting by my ‘colleagues’, and how it perpetuates stereotypes and stigmas.
We need to lead with our own standards, now - no one is coming to ‘save us’ in any kind of facets or ‘cause’ or issue.
No ‘inspiration porn’ or tragedy over triumph stories. I’m not ‘brave’ for living as a disabled woman. Anything on here is going to be outside of this jurisdiction - we are not inspirational or exceptional, we are allowed to exist as human beings with all of the nuance, the screw up, the losses, etc.
Boundaries matter. Lately, I have been expected to speak for Autism. I am sick of how this has been made to be something characteristic of me - the autistic journalist! - when my specialism is disability and social issues. Most of my work doesn’t even cover SEN. I’ll not be tolerating anything of this nature any more - it’s an example of ableism and sexism. No one should be expected to speak for a collective just because they are a woman or of any kind of protected characteristic. The same goes for trauma dumping; that’s going to be removed and blocked.
Inclusion is key. We’re trans-inclusive.
Not everything has to be caveated. This is me writing as myself. My experience is not a monolith, I cannot and have never claimed to speak for everyone. (See above point.) This is my ‘voice’ on paper.
To celebrate the slight rejig of my branding, as well as ‘shaping’ of this newsletter, I am offering a discount for a year’s paid membership of this newsletter.
You’ll get full archive access, be among the first to receive my news - and also receive a monthly email of resources, reading material, and more. Tap the button below to find out more.
Currently I Am..
Reading: on the shock US election result - this piece is the best I have seen. I don’t know what to say any more; I think of my disabled friends in the US, our allies, those I have not yet met, and how hard life is going to become. I’ll be sending copies of Marisa’s book across the pond, because I do not believe in despair. There is always hope. But it’s going to take a lot of work.
Watching: on TED. The Revolutionary Power Of Diverse Thought is an amazing speech. We have been taught to erase individuality by not affording the idea of multiplicity to ourselves any more. Listen, and learn.
Hankering after: Nars explicit lipstick. Red lipstick has a significance in feminist history. A pitch meeting next week has caused significant anxiety; I’ll be celebrating by treating myself to ‘Unauthorised’ afterwards.