Sometimes words have both a private meaning and a public meaning.
Gill's private meaning for "inspirational" is motivated by her love for
her child, and literally means what it says.
The public meaning of "inspirational" is something like "I'm an important
public personality, and I've got more interesting things to do than think
seriously about disability rights, so I'll fob 'em off with a single word
of mawkish hyperbole, which shouldnt take up too much energy, and
then hopefully, we can all forget about it".
Bearing this in mind allows us to applaud the private usage, and critique
the public usage.
WIth a bit of awareness, there need be no conflict and hurt between the
excellent people on this list, who we all know are dedicated to the
advancement of disability rights.
Judy Singer
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|