Carly Findlay

Writer, speaker, appearance activist. Loving life!

  • About me
  • Say Hello – my book
  • Hire me!
  • Support Me
  • Contact
  • What is Ichthyosis?
  • Ichthyosis + appearance diversity resources
  • Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Guest post contribution guidelines
  • Growing Up Disabled in Australia

How to be a good non-disabled feminist – my speech at Progress 2017

June 13, 2017 Carly Findlay 1 Comment

When I’m faced with exclusion and ableism, I find it productive to use these stories in a piece of writing or a speech.

I did that at a conference – I spoke in front of 1500 people at the Melbourne Town Hall (!) last week. It was for Progress 2017.

A couple of months ago I was removed from a Facebook group for being too political about my disability. Apparently it wasn’t the group for me, and I was making people uncomfortable sharing my experience. It’s a group run by feminist women. This might seem like a trivial social media fallout. But to me, this microaggression represents the systemic exclusion and ableism faced by women with disability. And so I’m talking about this – how disability is the forgotten part of diversity.

Here’s a bit of my speech.

“Disability is part of my identity, just like gender, race, sexuality and religion. It cannot be separated. I am a proud disabled woman and I will speak about it. I will make you uncomfortable with my politics and pride. You will not silence this part of my identity.

You can’t be a good feminist if you are not intersectional. That means you must include, listen to and value people with disability in your conversations, policies, writings, conferences, and protests. It hurts when we’re excluded. Even from Facebook groups.”

Thanks for the inspo, ladies! I turned those lemons into a cocktail. I felt utterly exhilarated.

Here’s a video of my talk. I’m sorry not to provide the transcript – I want to do something with it that probably prevents pre-publication.


Thanks also Kevin Rennie for filming it.

During and following the conference, I spoke out about the lack of accessibility at the event – you can view that here.

Here are some photos of the day.

Has this piece of writing helped you or made you think? Will you use it in your workplace or classroom? Please consider buying me a drink to show your appreciation.

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

disability, ichthyosis

Comments

  1. ndemi says

    June 20, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    Very touchy speech.Very confident and strong you are woman.Thank you for challenging me.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Socials

  • View tune.into.radio.carly’s profile on Facebook
  • View @carlyfindlay’s profile on Twitter
  • View carlyfindlay’s profile on Instagram
  • View sqoggle’s profile on YouTube

Book me to speak

Sign up for some love in your inbox

Listen to my podcast

Tune in

Enter your email address to receive new posts by email.

Archives

Popular Posts

  • What's with the image descriptions on my social media posts?
  • The death of Offspring's Dr Patrick Reid. The TV death that stopped a nation.
  • Be your own hero. My speech to my high school.
  • Say the words
  • Interview with Beth Bradfield from Malory Towers
  • My concerns about Wonder the film (and how to talk to your kids about Wonder)
  • The Greatest Showman - upliftspirational exploitation and the able gaze
  • Callan Mulvey got married
  • Creamoata: a much loved, yet lost food of my childhood. Help me find it.
  • Six at Best - Eddie Perfect - Offspring

Copyright

The material on Tune into Radio Carly is copyright. The writing in this blog is by Carly Findlay unless otherwise stated. Most photos in this blog are by Carly Findlay unless otherwise stated. Please do not reproduce without permission from Carly Findlay. This blog represents my personal opinions and experiences. It does not reflect those of my employers'. The information I provide about ichthyosis is mostly based on personal experiences. Please seek medical advice or counseling before trying any new treatments I've written about. Where stared, I use affiliate links on this blog. By clicking them, I receive a small percentage of the purchase.

Copyright © 2021 · Daily Dish Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.