I've noticed a disturbing trend floating around Kos, and it makes me kind of upset.
A lot of people in the community engage in really really casual ableism.
Ableism is discriminating against people who are mentally ill, kind of like how sexism is discriminating against women or homophobia is discriminating against queer people.
To the credit of most people on Kos, no one is saying that, for example, mentally ill people deserve to be sterilized without their consent. There's not much overt ableism floating about.
But I see statements like this on Kos pretty regularly:
To be blunt, if you do not suffer from seriously diminished mental capacity or the personality disorder that is right wing extremism and still vote Republican...I'd double check on the two previously mentioned conditions.
This is a recent example from a diary put up today. I regularly hear Republicans called "insane", "crazy", and things in this vein.
This makes me ungodly upset, and here's why.
I personally have mental disorders. I had a panic attack today that was bad enough that I'm still shaking from the aftereffects; given this, I have enough mental trouble that I consider myself to be insane. I am obviously not a congressional Republican, nor would I ever consider acting like one.
I know a number of people with diminished mental capacity. I know some people with personality disorders. None of them are as cruel, as petty, and as generally unfeeling as extremist Republicans can be.
Do you see the problem here?
When you compare people with mental trouble to people who are actively trying to screw people over, you're reinforcing structures that say that "crazy" people are evil and dangerous.
Can we use the word "irrational" or perhaps, in egregious cases, "evil" instead of "insane"? Thanks.
10:05 AM PT: It's been pointed out to me that I made a mistake with my diary, in that "ableism" is a general term for discrimination based on disability, not just mental illness. The word I was looking for was probably "sanism" or a better discussion of ableism.
Thanks!