The Problem with Reductive "Think" Pieces on Disability, Written by Able-Bodied People with No Context or Personal Experience with the Topic

A roundup of responses to Kathleen Stock's infuriating article.

photo by Cody Sells

My blood is boiling just thinking about this article. You probably know the one: Kathleen Stock’s piece in The Times. I’m not going to dignify it with a link, and I suggest you find it on Archive so you’re not giving The Times more page views.

If you haven’t heard about it or read it yourself, Kathleen Stock (also a TERF, so this gives you everything you need to know about her character imo), asks the question “Why do Gen Z females, apparently unlike every generation before them, have strangely unstable bodies that intermittently require support?”

The article hits all the wrong notes, claiming that young women have all sorts of vague ailments with “medical sounding” names, with symptoms “we’re all familiar with” that can really be chalked up to teenage anxiety. The Times also inserts a link to another article just to add fire to the flames: “When my ADHD diagnosis was removed, it was a relief. ” Oh joy. Stock proposes that these illnesses, the ones that young women use mobility aids for, are part of a greater “trend” going on right now, and then she very bravely concludes her article by saying “We owe it to potentially able-bodied young people to challenge their tendencies to neuroticism and fear; to get them out into the world as functioning adults, wherever that is possible.” How kind and generous of her!!! (I’m being sarcastic in case you couldn’t read my tone.)

I (Alyssa) have a lot of thoughts on this, but to be honest, I’m not one of the women she’s talking about. I don’t have postural orthostatic tachycardia, joint hypermobility, fibromyalgia, [or] myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, though I do use mobility aids for my rheumatoid arthritis.

One of the hardest things to acknowledge in this article is that it’s just another piece of proof telling us that disabled people can never win. When we’re minding our own business, people observe us and make ill-informed remarks, like Stock is doing. When we try to make our voices heard, we’re too much. When we don’t use aids that make our illnesses visible, we have to completely adhere to able-bodied standards. When we use mobility aids or other devices that make our illnesses visible, we’re told we’re just hopping on a trend. Nowhere in the discourse is there ever any room for just accepting that we know our bodies and letting us live in the ways we can.

What’s even more infuriating is that Stock is completely missing the point, furthering stigma, and asking the WRONG QUESTIONS. Why is she blaming young women — women who, by the way, have 78% higher odds of contacting a primary-care doctor within six weeks of noticing symptoms than men do — for listening to their bodies and finding ways to live more easily, rather than question the systems behind why women might be experiencing the symptoms and receiving the diagnoses in much higher proportions than earlier generations?

Why isn’t Stock, a freaking journalist, exploring the correlation between POTS, hEDS, and Long Covid + COVID-19 exposure?? Like, yes, there are SO many reasons women today are experiencing symptoms other generations haven’t, as well as a huge reason why they’re not just suffering through symptoms and trying to appear “normal,” but finding the tools that work for them. HELLO WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC THAT ISN’T OVER. HELLO INTERNET THAT CONNECTS PEOPLE EXPERIENCING THE SAME SYMPTOMS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

My god… people are not using mobility aids because they’re trendy!! What the actual fuck!

Rather than share too many more of my own thoughts, because truly I can’t speak accurately to this experience beyond my own experience as a young-ish woman with invisible illness, I’m going to share a roundup of incredible responses you can read all over the internet. Erin, my co-editor, does live with POTS and hEDS among other conditions, and she did most of the rounding up here.

Keely Cat-Wells, founder of Making Space - a hub for disabled and chronically ill job seekers, also published a great piece on the same topic, but with a much different, better perspective. I’d recommend reading that one instead and listening to the voices of the creators below.

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@spoonie_spice @spoonie_spice ♬ original sound - VINTAGE CARTOONS

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@imjessiara@The Times and Sunday Times was this article proof read before going live… doesn’t seem like it 😬 #invisibledisabilities #chronicillnessawareness #disabilityawareness #mobilityaids

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@beanyusherKathleen Stock , @The Times and Sunday Times - this deserves to be called out. The gross misinformation and frankly quite boring, unoriginal narrative being pushed about young people with disabilities and chronic illness is exactly why advocacy accounts like mine need to keep being loud. What’s particularly disappointing is that there was actually a really interesting article to be written here. Why are we seeing more young people openly identifying as disabled? Could the aftermath of a pandemic that left many people with long-term health problems be part of the conversation? Could increased visibility simply mean that people who have always been disabled finally feel able to talk about it? Instead, you chose to frame it through suspicion and the idea that young people might simply be learning the “wrong” story about their bodies. I’ve lived the reality you’re speculating about. I’ve been ashamed of my disability. I’ve refused mobility aids because I thought needing them made me weak. I’ve pushed myself far beyond what my body could cope with because I was scared of being judged. We don’t need less visibility. We need people to actually understand disability, including the fact that disabled people can be young. Twenty one years ago, I desperately needed the representation that young disabled people have today. So I’ll keep talking about it. I’ll keep being loud and I won’t apologise for it. We’re not going anywhere. . #disabilityawareness #disabilityadvocate #younganddisabled #spoonie #hiddendisability

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@thewanderereditSo, am I supposed to not exercise and also not dance as an artist or…? [Video: A Latina with dark, curly hair with a peekaboo blonde, in different clips of her dancing with her seat cane and is also seen sitting on her powerchair. Screenshots of an ableist af article appear on screen. The text says, “Yes. I am that disabled b*tch that dances with her mobility aids.”] #InvisibleIllness #DisabledArtist #DisabledDancer #SingerSongwriter #Disability

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@distaaybledA recent @The Times and Sunday Times article is suggesting young women are “victims of social contagion” plagued by vague syndromes and symptoms, all of which can be attributed to… you guessed it, anxiety ! She goes on to speculate that maybe young women are taking after influencers, and talking themselves into a “disabled state.” She ironically gives an example from a book “How Emotions are Made,” stating that a woman misinterpreted an uneasy stomach for nerves on a first date, when in reality there was a real, physical illness responsible. Insinuating people are choosing disability to escape “pressures of life,” and deconditioning themselves into a self fulfilled prophecy. Reality is, chronic illness disproportionately affects women. Research is advancing, and so is awareness and visibility on social media, where we have access to everything with a swipe of our finger. Increased visibility does not equal increased incidence, but it can influence diagnostic means through education. Not believing disabled people only works against the advocacy the community has tried to push forward. Looking for community and sameness in each other isn’t contagion - it’s human. And humans are allowed to use the tools and accommodations needed to make living life more accessible and enjoyable. #disability #ableism #chronicillness #mobilityaid

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@kateharmonsiberineThe @The Times and Sunday Times put out a rampantly ableist article by Kathleen Stock about how young women were using mobility aids because of vague conditions and social contagion… almost like she forgot that millions of us have been disabled by a global pandemic 😒 #ableism #nytimes #disability #mobilityaid #wtf

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@longcovidrockstarJust in case it wasn't fantastically frickin obvious, here's a fairly detailed rant from a tired woman who uses a walking stick. Kathleen Stock literally has an OBE for so-called services to higher education, in case you needed any more proof that the honours system was a bunch of bollocks. VIDEO DESCRIPTION: Amy is a white women with a dark brown Bob and aviator specs. She wears a PROTECT THE DOLLS t-shirt and speaks to the camera from her bed, mostly lying down. #WalkingStick #DisabledWomen #TheTimes #ableism #disability

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@pacoonpauseWomen are not being disabled by social contagion. This video is in response to an article from The Times, written by Kathleen Stock and titled: Why are young women using walking sticks?

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@loveandlightwellnessvti don’t think it’s necessary for people to comment on our bodies. ♿️ to be honest, i don’t think i have much to add to this conversation since so much has already been said. 💛 however, that article is in the culmination of what we’ve been saying for years: no one believes us. but that doesn’t make it less real. use the fucking cane if it helps you. the only thing that matters is that you feel good in your body, not what people like kathleen think. 🫂 #hEDS #POTS #MCAS

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@loveandlightwellnessvtmobility aids are cool! ♿️🌟 @Paiseec @byACRE if you’re thinking about it, it could be time to try one. 🤠 one of my favorite things to do with clients is explore options for mobility aids, AND talk them through their mindset and barriers. 🚫🤔💭 this is not just a physical topic, it is heart centered. from what i’ve seen, heard, and experienced, the barrier to getting a mobility aid is almost never a lack of need - it’s believing it’s not “bad enough” or that someone in your life will say something stupid. and they might. 😵‍💫💛 you deserve to be as comfortable in your body as possible. if that means using a rollator or wheelchair? hell yeah man. 🤘🏼 want support with this? i’m here for you. 😊🌟 check out my website for more information, or comment “accessible” for a link to a free consultation in your DMs! 💻 loveandlightwellnessvt.com #hEDS #POTS #MCAS #mobilityaid

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Drop more links in the comments that we may have missed!!