AHHH!! I’m so excited, friends! I’ve been wanting to make this announcement for weeks and now I finally can…
Guess what???
I’m now officially a contributor to POPSUGAR! I pitched them an essay idea last month and it went live yesterday on their — surprise, surprise! — Love vertical. I’ve been realizing lately how much I love writing about the intersection of love and disability, as well as where I fit in to all that. I know I’ve been writing about this topic for almost eight years here on the blog, but I feel like I’m taking it to the next level.
Here’s an excerpt of “4 Things I Want Men to Know About Women With Disabilities,” which has already been shared 26 times…
It used to be that society’s perception of the disability community skewed more toward the negative. People with disabilities were seen as weak and dependent, living out their days sitting in their wheelchairs with a blanket over their lap and not doing much of anything productive or worthwhile. Sadly, for some reason, that image has stuck around longer than it ever should have.
NEWS FLASH: These sorts of misconceptions are just that — misconceptions. They’re at once antiquated and damaging, not just to those with disabilities, but to society as a whole. They’re insulting in their sweeping generalization and chooses to focus on the disability at the expense of the person.
You can read the full essay here and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me anytime at mellow1422@aol.com and let’s chat! And of course, feel free to share my essay on Facebook, Twitter or even your local refrigerator. If you share on Twitter, be sure to tag me @melissablake so we can connect! I can’t wait to hear from you! Love you all… xoxo
P.S. Catch up on more disability and love talk! 🙂
LuLu*s Handbag Giveaway!
Would You Rather: Find out if you were having a boy or a girl…or wait until the big day?
Disabilities In The Media: Restaurant owner’s secret ingredient? Hugs!
Balloon save-the-dates
Unknown says
I really enjoyed your essay–it's smart and inspiring! I also liked your line, "Besides, I'm sure you have your own hang-ups that others might deem high-maintenance, but I'm definitely not going to hold those against you." This is so true. Everyone has what others might consider "hang-ups." It's important to surround oneself with others who can look beyond these hang-ups. Thanks for continuing to squash misconceptions–women surely have enough to deal with!