Point Of Clarification — Jillian Ilana

After re-reading my blog post regarding Inspiration Porn, I feel like I need to make things a bit more clear. Again, I want to state right up front that I am speaking for myself and not for the dwarfism or disabled community as a whole.

I want and hope to inspire others- that was part of my intention when launching Always Looking Up. I hope that I inspire fashion designers to stop saying “They can’t” design for little people. I hope that I inspire other little people to create a platform to make themselves seen in a world where we are constantly overlooked. I hope that I inspire people to stop stigmatizing disability. Am I too hopeful? Perhaps.

On Friday, January 29, Betches Media launched their new series Afternoon Tea on The Betches Sup podcast. For its inaugural episode host Sami Sage (@sami) had a conversation with author Liz Plank (@feministabulous) and one of the topics they discussed was ableism. I don’t want to spoil the whole episode but I do want to highlight something that was said that really resonated with me: there is nothing wrong with disability, there is something wrong with society.

Genetics made me different, society and the environment treat me like I’m disabled.

Think about it: why are certain, simple tasks more difficult for someone like me than they are for an average-sized person? For example, using a public restroom. More often than not, the sink and/or the soap is out of reach. Sometimes I can’t even lock the door. One time I was told that the handicap bathroom was across the street in another building four floors up. Will I find a solution? Of course. I carry hand sanitizer, I’ll jump and climb on counters, I’ll wait until I am somewhere with an accessible bathroom in the building.

Is this inspiring?

So, what do I really mean when I say I’m not your inspiration? I don’t want to be patronized. I don’t want able-bodied people to use my disability to feel better about themselves. I don’t want my disability to be seen as a burden I am forced to overcome.