Sitting Pretty
The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body
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4.3 • 23 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories in this powerful social justice memoir to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.
Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.
Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit, Rebekah reflects on everything from the complications of kindness and charity, living both independently and dependently, experiencing intimacy, and how the pervasiveness of ableism in our everyday media directly translates to everyday life.
Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. By exploring this truth in poignant and lyrical feminist essays, Taussig illustrates the need for more stories and more voices to understand the diversity of humanity. Sitting Pretty challenges us as a society to be patient and vigilant, practical and imaginative, kind and relentless, as we set to work to write an entirely different story.
This stunning collection of essays offers a new perspective on:
Disability Representation: A sharp-witted critique of the monstrous, inspirational, or angelic depictions of disability in media, and a call for more complex and ordinary stories.Ableism in Everyday Life: An unflinching look at the complications of kindness, the nuances of charity, and how ableism translates from media to our daily interactions.The View from the Wheelchair: A beautiful and intimate portrait of navigating the world in a body that doesn’t fit, from experiencing intimacy to living both independently and dependently.A New Voice in Disability Advocacy: The powerful, personal story from the creator of the popular Instagram account @sitting_pretty, blending memoir and cultural criticism to write a new story about the diversity of humanity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Taussig debuts with a pull-no-punches memoir about life in a wheelchair. She insists up front that she doesn't speak for everyone with a disability ("I would be doing us all a great disservice if I led you to believe that the conversation starts and ends with bodies and experiences that look just like mine") and provides a frank look into her life with "a body that doesn't work," one that she's lived in since surviving an aggressive cancer as a 14-month-old. She analyzes sex and disabilities; her marriage to her first husband, which came about only because she was afraid it would be her only chance (she eventually found love with her second husband); unintentional ableism; online dating; and what she sees as the disempowering message from Hollywood that characters with disabilities are "always longing for a whole' body through a fantasy sequence." Taussig's refreshing, matter-of-fact tone makes it clear that she's not asking anyone to feel sorry for her; rather, she's asking for just the opposite to not be defined by her wheelchair. Her smart and witty observations about living with disabilities will be enlightening and eye-opening for readers.
Customer Reviews
Just Excellent!
I love books that open me up to seeing the world in a different way. This does it in spades. Easy to get into from page one and lots of ideas that made me reflect on how we can better invite all voices to the table. When we do this, we are all better for it.
Expansive exhale - bold, beautiful and witty
A beautiful depiction and deconstruction of ableism’s nuanced and blatant entanglement woven between a memoir and a challenge to society. It felt like an expansive exhale as someone who is struggling with articulating how identity intersects with disability. Thank you.
Informative and inspiring
As a woman in a wheelchair myself, I am encouraged by her story. At times I, too, felt hopeless and unloved by society. I have achieved greatness myself despite my disability. This book is so relatable and real. Thank you for sharing your story. All the pain, rejection, and happy moments of surviving life with a disability ❤️